3D

Which 3D-printing service will make you a gun?

As I explored in this post, while it's possible to print a working firearm component with a 3D printer, it's not exactly the best way to create such a component. Still, more people might experiment with the idea as 3D printers become more common. And as 3D-printing technology develops alongside that growth, so will the popularity of 3D-printing services--companies that print objects for you based on plans you submit.… Read more

Get a 47-inch Vizio 3D HDTV with Wi-Fi for $598

Looking to replace an old LCD panel (or even, horrors, a tube) with something new, modern, and feature-packed? Ah, who are we kidding, "feature-packed" is code for "not in my budget."

It might be today. For a limited time, and while supplies last, Amazon has the VIZIO E3D470VX 47-inch LCD HDTV for $598 shipped. When it comes to features, this model's about as packed as they come.

For starters, it's a 3D TV, one that relies on lightweight passive glasses rather than expensive, inconvenient active-shutter glasses. Vizio supplies two pairs, but you can expand … Read more

You don't bring a 3D printer to a gun fight -- yet

Welcome to the dark side of 3D printing.

The hobby is best known for creating colorful toys and trinkets, but some enthusiasts are working on design files that would allow anyone to print a working gun. These don't exist yet, but some believe it's only a matter of time.

Why would a 3D-printed gun be appealing? For one, it could potentially be cheap. You can buy a preassembled 3D printer for about $500. A spool of ABS plastic to print with goes for $50. Depending on where you shop, you can buy .38 Special ammunition for 30 cents a round. The plans will undoubted be distributed free like so many MP3s. … Read more

Sony puts a price on its 4K TV: $25,000

A week after Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai uncloaked the company's massive 4K 3D TV, Sony has uncloaked its price, too: $25,000.

People can pre-order Sony's 84-inch XBR-84X900 today, but it won't be in stores until November, Sony said today.

The 4K TV has four times the number of pixels -- 3,840x2,160 -- as a regular HD TV. The 4K label, a bit of a loose term meaning 4,000, refers to number of pixels across the width. Sony is pushing hard to move the industry to 4K video, hoping for a new upgrade … Read more

The weird world where 3D printing and art collide

While we may never think the world of 3D movies, at least the 3D printing ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly in a good direction. With interest in 3D printers, as well as accessibility to them, becoming more commonplace, an increasing number of artists use these machines -- capable of making nearly anything -- to stretch the limits of design.

The first 3D Print Show, held in London's Brewery next month -- October 19-21 -- gives those in the 3D printing industry a centralized venue for collaborating and educating, as well as showing off some mind-bending 3D creations.… Read more

Ms. Pac-Man gets full-room 3D treatment

The phrase "immersive experience" gets bandied about quite a bit, but it's often an overstatement -- unless you happen to be in a room completely surrounded by a fully playable Ms. Pac-Man game.

Keita Takahashi, the creator of Katamari Damacy, got to experiment with a variety of video games for the recent Babycastles Summit at the Museum of Art & Design in New York.

Takahashi's new take on Ms. Pac-Man involved projecting it onto the walls and ceiling of a room. It looks like what would happen if Tron and Ms. Pac-Man got together, minus the glowing skin-tight suits.… Read more

Sony gets in your face with upgraded personal 3D viewer

Coinciding with many other announcements during its presser today at the IFA 2012 confab in Berlin, Sony quietly launched the HMZ-T2 personal 3D head-mounted display.

The headset -- vastly similar to its predecessor (the HMZ-T1) -- contains two small 0.7-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays placed in front of the wearer's eyes that simulate a big screen and can display 2D/3D content from any HDMI source. Crave sent Sony an e-mail to see if the HMZ-T2 offers the same 720-pixel resolution and picture quality as before, which seems likely, as T2's marketing babble reads very much like that of the HMZ-T1. We'll let you know. … Read more

New Super Mario Bros. 2: Nintendo 3DS gets a new game that's all too familiar

Jeff: The 3DS needs all the help it can get, so a new Mario Bros. game has worked in the past, why not again now? The problem with that mentality is that after a while, even the great Mario isn't invulnerable to becoming stale. And in the case of New Super Mario Bros. 2, I'm afraid it has finally happened.

Now before you gather up the pitchforks and start heading my way, you'll be happy to hear that I still think the game is fun to play. If you own a 3DS odds are you haven't bought a game in a while, so this will most likely find its way into your portable system. That said, you may fall into the same deja-vu trance that I did while playing and begin muttering, "Haven't I done this before?"… Read more

The 404 1,110: Where we're more than meats the eye (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Google may start a same-day delivery service that uses automated vehicles.

- YouTube is the No. 1 source of music for teenagers.

- People also spend more time watching their phones than television.

- 3D printed meat: It's what's for dinner.

- 'The Price is Right' seeking first male model.

Bathroom break video: Why should I be on the Internet?… Read more

3D printed meat: It's what's for dinner

3D printing has been used to create running shoes, medical implants, and, to the delight of firearm enthusiasts, a .22 caliber handgun. So why not a 3D-printed steak for the grill?

Billionaire investor Peter Thiel's philanthropic foundation plans to announce today a six-figure grant for bioprinted meat, part of an ambitious plan to bring to the world's dinner tables a set of technologies originally developed for creating medical-grade tissues.

The recipient of the Thiel Foundation's grant, a Columbia, Mo.-based startup named Modern Meadow, is pitching bioprinted meat as a more environmentally-friendly way to satisfy a natural … Read more