[Philip Lelyveld comment: the story lists a few days for individual ages 3 - 10+]
For its 2012 list, engineers reviewed hundreds of toys for safety and educational merits. But the true test comes from 140 kids, ages 3 to 13, who play with the top 135 new toys at the magazine's product-testing laboratory in New York.
Toy Talk, which has been described as “Teddy Ruxpin meets Siri,” recently released a teaser video showing the concept behind the startup, which is still in stealth mode.
As the battle for dominance in the smartphone and tablet-computer market intensifies, South Korean conglomerate Samsung is pushing ahead with plans to start mass production of displays using plastic rather than glass, a move that will make mobile devices unbreakable, lighter and bendable.
[Philip Lelyveld comment: one step closer to redefining CPMs and ad rates.]
Nielsen and NM Insight, a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey and Company, has acquired social TV tracking firm SocialGuide. Terms of the agreement were not immediately available. Brooklyn-based SocialGuide has focused a substantial amount of its efforts on Twitter, which has become the de facto home for real-time conversation surrounding television. SocialGuide’s platform tracks conversations around more than 30,000 programs, across 232 English and Spanish-language channels.
This week, Microchip Technology, a large U.S. semiconductor manufacturer, says it is releasing the first controller that uses electrical fields to make 3-D measurements.
The low-power chip makes it possible to interact with mobile devices and a host of other consumer electronics using hand gesture recognition, which today is usually accomplished with camera-based sensors. A key limitation is that it only recognizes motions, such as a hand flick or circular movement, within a six-inch range.
Perhaps most interesting, the controller could easily go into electronics that don’t have a camera, including car dashboards, keyboards, light switches, or a music docking station.
The controller comes with the ability to recognize 10 predefined gestures, including wake-up on approach, position tracking, and various hand flicks, but it can also be programmed to respond to custom movements.
[Philip Lelyveld comment; this analyst has found some interesting revenue manipulation by 3D Systems, but I don't agree with his conclusion that the bottom is about to fall out of the 3D printer industry/culture.]
Epilogue
My summary of the situation is this: the industrial market for 3D printers has matured for rapid prototyping and demand has declined. This has forced printer manufacturers to move downstream to lower materials usage and more price sensitive customers. This market is more diffuse so access is a problem. Additive manufacturing, while promising, has yet to gain traction. This is why DDD has expanded its reseller channel and moved into services. Adoption has been slow because of the high upfront cost of a 3D printer. Hence, Cube. 3D printing/additive manufacturing might be the "next big thing" so the stock market has reacted predictably by driving the market value of DDD to an all-time high. The market has over-reached.
DDD is at or near its peak coinciding with 3D printing being near the peak of the hype cycle. Now is the time to start asking the difficult questions. Now is the time to hedge your long position.
The 3D hype cycle is reaching a crescendo. The red flags are numerous and substantial. Management's behavior is suspicious. Disclosures are confusing, inconsistent and vague. Black clouds are forming.
Summary: The US Army already uses a 3D printer setup to produce spare parts in Afghanistan, but it has now unveiled a smaller, cheaper version that it says could make its way into people's homes in the coming years.
Berry said the US military had gained a lot of experience with the concept while trying to make cheap parts for the "small airborne platforms" that it uses to test sensors for use in space.
The effects crew modelmakers called on a company called Voxeljet, who used a massive 3D printer with a capacity of 283 cubic feet to reproduce three 1:3 scale models of the Aston Martin. Each pseudo-miniature was actually assembled from 18 individual components so that they could be assembled with real-life functionality such as opening doors, trunks, and hoods. Unfortunately one of the models met its untimely death in an elaborate Hollywood-esque explosion, but its sacrifice ensured the original DB 5 was not harmed in the making of the film.
“It’s not going to replace the CNCs, but it can do a lot of things faster and better for its niche,” Staub said. That includes highly customized, lower volume runs and very specialized tooling.
If you’ve ever thought it would be cool to have a miniature figurine of yourself—or maybe a loved one—just hanging out on your desk and doing it’s thing, your day has come. The first 3D printing photobooth is due to open in Japan later this month.
From November 24th to January 14th 2013, those who wish get themselves a mini-me can go to the Eye of Gyre exhibition space in Harajuku for the procedure. The miniatures come in three sizes, roughly 4, 6, and 8 inches, and cost the equivalent of £167, £251, and £334 respectively, with modest discounts for groups. You can bet it’ll still be expensive though.
As the battle for dominance in the smartphone and tablet-computer market intensifies, South Korean conglomerate Samsung is pushing ahead with plans to start mass production of displays using plastic rather than glass, a move that will make mobile devices unbreakable, lighter and bendable.
Nielsen and NM Insight, a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey and Company, has acquired social TV tracking firm SocialGuide. Terms of the agreement were not immediately available. Brooklyn-based SocialGuide has focused a substantial amount of its efforts on Twitter, which has become the de facto home for real-time conversation surrounding television. SocialGuide’s platform tracks conversations around more than 30,000 programs, across 232 English and Spanish-language channels.