HP DesignJet 3D Printer Is Here, but We Still Can’t Afford It [3D Printing]

When Hewlett-Packard promised to make 3D printers more affordable for the masses, I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean bums like you and me who just want to print 3D models of bacon, Patlabor and Olivia Munn (not necessarily in that order) will be able to get one. But yeah, HP’s Designjet 3D printers will be for sale starting this May, although for now they’ll only be sold in Europe.

The printer “turns three-dimensional CAD drawings into tangible prototypes by extruding partially molten ABS plastic in extremely fine layers one atop the other, forming the entire 3-D model in a single piece from the ground up.” The Designjet 3D can only print using ivory-colored plastic…

…while the Designjet Color 3D can print using up to 8 different colors.

I hope in the future we can just download an image of anything we want and then print it in 3D. But that will probably result in the rise of collectible toy pirates.

HP says that retail prices for their 3D printers will start at ISL 64,933.96 (€13,000) (approx. ISL 65,363.87 ($17,500 USD)). If that’s too rich for your blood, you could always just spend ISL 3,735.08 ($1,000) on a Makerbot.

[technabob via Popular Science via Geek]

HP Slate flaunts Flash capability in a new video [HP]

That HP also has a Slate in stock for us is no secret especially since its debut at the CES back in January. However, with this new clip we are assured it will be capable of Flash and AIR. No doubt it is good sales point but still depends… Is it good enough bait for you to go for HP Slate instead of Apple’s iPad?

And as to this HP Windows 7 Slate commercial, it was released around the time of the CES. However, watching it now is more meaningful as you can see yourself amused by the reminiscence of it to the iPad’s commercial.

[Akihabaranews.com]

An Accelerometer 1,000x More Sensitive Than the iPhone's [Sensor]

HP has developed an inertial accelerometer that's so sensitive, it can detect a change in the position of its center chip of less than one-billionth the width of a human hair.

The sensor is part of HP's unfortunately named CeNSE (Central Nervous System for the Earth) program, whose aim is to build a 'planetwide network' of tiny sensors to measure anything and everything about the environment. It's the first prototype in the CeNSE project, and it's safe to say they're starting off on the right foot:

Hartwell's device is sensitive enough to 'feel' a heartbeat. The source of that sensitivity is a 5mm-square, three-layer silicon chip. A portion of the center wafer is suspended between the two outer wafers by flexible silicon beams. When the chip moves, the suspended center lags behind due to its inertia. A measurement of that relative motion is used to calculate the speed, direction and distance the chip has moved.

While the larger CeNSE project may have environmentalist overtones, the first practical application is going to be from oil behemoth Shell. They'd like to use the sensors to detect pockets of oil, allowing them to drill more efficiently. Eventually, HP hopes to move to "city-level" projects that digitally capture what the five senses do—and in some cases, what they can't. And when they finally stuff that sucker in a Wiimote, Super Smash Bros. will never be the same.
[Gizmodo via HP via Fast Company]

HP's Windows 7 Slate Device Revealed by Steve Ballmer [Slate]

It's not Courier, but HP's rumored slate PC is here, now. Steve Ballmer and his hardware specialist Ryan Asdourian just showed it off, and man is it cute.
Adrian just spotted this official video:



'They're more powerful than a phone and almost as powerful as a PC. Perfect for reading, surfing the web and taking entertainment on the go,' said Ballmer at his CES 2010 opening keynote. He says that it will be available this year.

HP says they'll provide information on the slate after the keynote, but wouldn't say anything in the meantime. We're calling it a "slate"—well, Microsoft is calling it a slate, to differentiate from the pen-and-screen dealy that Bill Gates intro'd in 2001—but that's not its name.
It's a Windows 7 touch device, so it's nice in an accessible, netbooky (yeah, I'm guessing relatively cheap) context. But it's not exactly the Courier we have lusted after from Microsoft in our dreams (and waking hours).
Here you can see it in its various modes, movie mode, ebook mode and PC mode:





Fun fact: Adsdorian, shown above with Ballmer, moonlights as a (or the) Seahawks mascot.
[Gizmodo]

HP Acquires 3Com For $2.7 Billion

HP is acquiring network infrastructure manufacturer 3Com for $2.7 billion. 3Com provides networking, switching, routing and security components.

HP says the acquisition will further its data center strategy “built on the convergence of servers, storage, networking, management, facilities and services.” The acquisition of 3Com also help to expand HP’s Ethernet switching offerings, add routing solutions and significantly strengthen the company’s position in China thanks to 3Com’s strong presence in China.