We have already reported on Project Ara, Google’s Modular Phone here, so building a layer on the story, today we look at why this phone is a good idea. Last month, Google hosted its first Project Ara developer’s conference and gave out more information on the project. Presently, the Advanced Technologies and Products (ATAP) team is overseeing the project and hopefully by January 2015 we will have our hands on this device.
Come May 21st and you should be queuing up the High Museum of Art in Atlanta for a trip down fantasy lane. The fast and furious will get treated a lineup of seventeen select cars that are catch-phrased “Dream Cars”. Sarah Schleuning, the High’s Curator of Decorative Arts and Design are proud to showcase concept cars like the BMW Gina, the 1935 Bugatti “Aerolith”, and the 33 inch-tall wedge-shaped car ‘Stratos hf Zero’ amongst others.
The Artiphon Instrument 1 is, hands down, the Swiss Army knife of digital instruments. Using the computer in my pocket, 3D printed components, and some rad sensors, Artiphon enables musicians to play with and practice a variety of stringed instruments in one. The Instrument 1 adapts an Apple mobile device into a versatile, and highly portable, instrument body that allows musicians to do more than tap a screen – it allows the use of that hard-earned technique to produce digital music. The combination of modern manufacturing, mobile technology, and music is a powerful one, and the Instument 1 is a step towards new kinds of instruments made possible by this trio.
We’re living in a world of daily product launches. If you’re reading this, you’re likely considering your own or, at the very least, dream of making riches by bringing the ultimate, life-altering product to market. Whether that is done through crowd sourcing, investor sourcing or mother-in-law sourcing, there will always be a point when that brilliant idea needs to become a brilliant reality. Manufacturing. It’s the gray area; the “part they don’t tell you about in school.”
Marketing and 3D printing have been going hand-in-hand quite nicely in recent memory (and why not?). Whether using additive manufacturing as a self-promotional tool or as a way to make custom Oreo cookies, it serves as a good reminder just how custom we can get with manufacturing these days. The innovative indie rock band Broken Bells has joined the 3D printing bandwagon and in support of the launch of their new album ‘After the Disco’ they are releasing album-themed models free to print. Could this be a (fingers-crossed) growing trend in underground marketing for bands?