Aeroboat’s S6 performance yacht steps up with luxury, speed, and unique design

Why it matters to you

If your idea of fun day cruising involves fast transit from port to destination, this could be your vessel.

A private vessel need not qualify as a “superyacht” to be a showstopper. The 65-foot, Rolls-Royce-powered Aeroboat S6 falls short of the minimum 80-foot superyacht length, but the boat’s design, speed, and distinctive features are sure to attract second looks wherever it appears.

The S6 is a uniquely designed day cruiser, but not a likely choice for a liveaboard or long cruises. The Aeroboat’s two decks are rated for entertaining 12 passengers, but the yacht only sleeps four people.

The S6’s distinctive teardrop-shaped open cockpit and central midships seating area, which also conceals a dining table, leads all the way to the aft swim platform. This yacht is intended for people who like the sun and the sea with unobstructed views. Hardtop and Bimini top variations are available for those who prefer protection from the elements.

The spacious owner’s cabin doubles as the main below deck entertainment area. An additional cabin has a Pullman for two crew members or guests. The S6 has a well-equipped gallery and a shower room with a day head.

The Header Rail Readout, located high and central section of the cockpit windscreen, answers the inevitable “Are we there yet?” and “How long will it take?” inquiries. The readout displays the current speed, heading, and ETA for all to see.

The Aeroboat S6’s superstructure tail has to be seen, at least in photographs, to appreciate. Dual sunbeds at the back of the midships seating area can be converted to a huge sun lounge when the passerelle, or passageway, is not in use. The passerelle is directly over the engine compartment.

Wingtips stairs on either side of the passerelle each have a half-door to the cockpit, providing another means of arriving on the top deck or descending to the swim platform. It’s an elegant and unique design that takes up a substantial amount of space.

The swim platform has its own special feature called Aerostairs that will get everyone in the yacht club talking — at least the first time they see it. The platform can extend the width of the transom and lower down with seven wide steps for people to get on or off the vessel. Pop-up railings for the wingtip stairs and the Aerostairs add a safety element when desired.

Another S6 talking point is the lower deck tender garage, unusual in a yacht this size. The garage, which is located just forward of the engine compartment, can hold a 12.5-foot tender or two personal watercraft. An overhead crane deploys and retrieves the toys or the tender.

Bomber aircraft-style doors in the S6 bow store mooring equipment, anchor, fenders, and an additional life raft.

The S6 is powered by two 1,500-horsepower diesel engines assisted by waterjets. The top speed with a light load is estimated at 48 knots. The S6’s range at 40 knots and full 1,518-gallon fuel capacity is 400 nautical miles. The range would be longer when moving at lower speeds, but this yacht isn’t designed for slow cruises.

Essential’s uphill battle, and its mixed message on how to fight it

You can do everything ‘right’ in launching a new phone company … and still not make it work.

Andy Rubin’s new consumer electronics brand, Essential, had a pretty well-executed launch last week. There was a little bit of hype ahead of time, but also no real leaks or expectations. So when everyone saw the Essential Phone and Essential Home, and listened to CEO Rubin talk about his plans, people felt generally positively.

But of course, we’ve seen this play out plenty of times before. It’s relatively easy to design a really neat-looking phone, source some typical high-end components, and tell a compelling story about what the ethos of your device is. It’s a whole other level of commitment, execution and luck to actually turn that into a real, successful, sustainable product in the market.

My biggest concern is the mixed message — it’s not clear how big Essential expects to be.

On the face of it, the Essential Phone clearly looks like it’s a niche product for a very specific subset of consumers. It’s expensive, stylish, and runs near-stock Android. It’s priced like a flagship from Samsung, but at the moment has no carrier or retail partners in the U.S. — and unless Essential is willing to open up deep pockets on advertising, nobody is going to know it exists in the first place. But Rubin doesn’t see the Essential Phone as a niche product … he sees sales reaching a large scale relatively quickly.

It adds up to feeling like a mixed message. Is the phone a niche, well-made and interesting phone with features you can get anywhere else? Or is it a general consumer flagship that has a really wide potential customer base? It almost seems like Essential wants to start with the former to build a small dedicated early adopter group, then go to the latter strategy to actually make money. That transition is going to be very difficult to navigate.

And with that, a few more thoughts on the week that was:

• The U.S. unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ are finally fully available, and a lot of people will be on the fence about whether or not to get one.
• On one hand, I’ll always recommend people go unlocked. On the other, Samsung’s track record for updating unlocked phones is weak.
• Apple’s WWDC keynote is on Monday at 10:00 a.m. PT. It’s worth watching, even if you’re not a fan of Apple — you can’t deny the pull that company has in the technology world.
• Still super happy with the HTC U11, and I keep on using it despite it being an unlocked Taiwanese model missing a few radio bands. Can’t wait to get a U.S. unlocked model.
• Another phone in my arsenal, as we talked about on the latest podcast, is the Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
• In typical Sony fashion it’s beautiful, huge, spec-filled and has really good battery life. First impressions are the camera doesn’t seem to be up to the quality of the price tag, though.

Have a great week, everyone.

– Andrew

Implant-free stimulation could treat brain conditions

Scientists know that stimulating the deeper regions of your brain can treat Parkinson’s and other conditions. But there’s a problem: they usually need to open your skull to place implants, which is both time-consuming and risky. Researchers may have a better way, though: they’ve invented a deep brain stimulation technique that only requires electrodes on your scalp. The trick is to create two high-frequency electrical currents that don’t do anything by themselves, but interact with each other deep inside your brain. If you want to target different parts of the brain, you just change the frequencies and placement of the electrodes.

The resolution isn’t as good as conventional stimulation techniques, but it’s very precise. And importantly, it doesn’t affect other parts of the brain — you won’t trigger side effects.

If the creators can refine their method to produce specific effects, they could use it to treat many of the conditions where deep brain stimulation is already useful, ranging from Parkinson’s to depression. More importantly, the noninvasive nature should make it easy to tackle different conditions. You wouldn’t have to think about wiring or new surgical procedures, after all. While this isn’t likely to result in cures, it could lead to treatment that’s easy, quick and consistently available.

Source: MIT News

App Attack: Train your Magikarp to jump higher in this Tamagotchi-like game

If you’re looking for yet another nostalgia-filled pokémon app aside from the hyped-up Pokémon Go, you’ll love Magikarp Jump.

Even if your Pokémon card-filled binders are a little dusty, and you haven’t picked up that Game Boy in a decade, this new mobile game from The Pokémon Company is super simple to follow. It requires only your thumb, little strategic thinking, and a whole lot of patience.

The purpose of Magikarp Jump is to win the title of League Champion against other Magikarps — through jumping competitions. To maximize its jump power, you take a useless Magikarp through a series of training sessions where it grows stronger.

The majority of playing time is spent feeding your Magikarp snacks like Oran and Sitrus berries. You can purchase more powerful food in the coin shop to help your Magikarp grow, and increase your jump power more quickly.

It feels vaguely similar to the Tamagotchis we cherished as kids — there’s no multi-player component, and you’re solely responsible for making sure your Magikarp is well-fed, trained, and full-on thriving at life. In true Tamagotchi fashion — but breaking from traditional Pokémon games — your Magikarp can die.

As if death wasn’t enough, you get to watch the ghost of Magikarp 1.0 swim past new and healthy Magikarp 2.0, reminding you of your previous mistakes. Nope, I don’t remember this dark and twisted version of Pokémon either growing up.

I watched my Magikarp kick the bucket after attempting to shoot through all the levels by growing it on food alone, and then taking it straight through to compete in the jump leagues with minimal training. Lesson learned: Don’t overexert your Magikarp.

My second Magikarp died as well when curiosity got the best of me and I forced it to jump up to swipe some berries from a tree. A warning message popped up asking if I was positive that I wanted to proceed with this action, and after clicking jump, a Pidgeotto swooped up out of no where and grabbed my Magikarp — suggesting that pokémon do eat other pokémon .

Only in Magikarp Jump can a nice sunny stroll paired with some berry picking result in death. You might want to keep this game away from children because even as an adult, murdering innocent pokémon is pretty scarring.

The difficulty of the game can be a little deceiving, seeing as how I managed to win consecutive rounds of battles in the first league without having to train in between. It seemed way too easy until I got to the Quick League and realized my tiny little Magikarp was not cut out to jump higher than the oversized Magikarp next to me, and I was right. If there’s one thing I learned from this game, it’s that shortcuts will get you no where. I’m now on my third Magikarp and will be training him Rocky Balboa style. Third time’s the charm, as they say.

If you’re planning on playing the game strategically, you can train your Magikarp through exercises like a jump counter, where your Magikarp jumps up and down excitedly, or a sandbag, where Magikarp just seems to hit itself against the bag. Super weird to watch — but hey, it earns you points along the way and increases Magikarp’s size for the leagues.

Once you feel ready to compete, your Magikarp will face off with another to see who can jump higher. There are four leagues with numerous battles within each.

If you win, you can continue to unlock more battles to compete in, or you can take Magikarp home to train more. Your Magikarp also receives bonus coins, and can help your trainer move up a ranking level.

The app itself is extremely easy to navigate, and aesthetically, the game sticks to familiar Pokémon animations with live storytelling and colorful imagery.  You can even switch the backgrounds between land and water for your Magikarp to freely float around in; and Magikarps can also come in different patterns, depending on what you catch at the beginning of a new life.

By using your diamonds (which you earn through completing achievements and events) or beating particular leagues, you can invite more pokémon to join Magikarp — they provide moral support and give Magikarp rewards. For example, Snorlax offers food for Magikarp, while Popplio drops sunken treasure to help boost points. Pikachu cheers on your Magikarp and awards it some jump points as well.

For the extreme Pokémon gamer, there’s plenty to unlock if you continue to rack up coins and max out levels. You can actually evolve Magikarp into Gyarados, but it’s more of an easter egg rather than a part of the game. Tap on your Magikarp repeatedly to break its Everstone, then level it up to 20. It will then evolve into Gyarados, but it will cease participating in jumping competitions, and you’ll have no choice but to start over with a new Magikarp.

Magikarp Jump is available for free on Android and iOS, and it has in-app purchases so you can buy more diamonds, or exchange tickets to trade for rare items throughout the game.

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Cheap AR goggles, 3D printing on a conveyor belt

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week’s most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don’t grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail — even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Hammocraft — multipurpose hammock stand

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Over the past few years, many backpackers have taken to replacing their traditional tents with a hammock, and it’s easy to see why. Hammocks are often lighter, easier to carry, simpler to set up, and offer better all-around comfort. But you know what they can’t do? Float. And that’s a bummer, because a floating hammock would basically be the best invention since individually-wrapped cheese slices.

But if lazily floating over a body of water while suspended in midair has always been a dream of yours, then we have good news for you: there’s finally a way to make it happen.

The Hammocraft is a hammock suspension system designed to sit atop just about anything. If you don’t have access to a body of water, you can set it up it on the ground and support up to five hammocks at once — but that’s just the most basic use of its abilities. If you feel like stepping up your lounge game, this crazy contraption can be affixed to a pair of kayaks (or paddleboards, or whatever) to make it buoyant. That means you and four of your closest friends can enjoy your hammocks in the middle of a lake — or even take them down a lazy river.

Read more here

Digitsole Smartshoe — activity tracking smart shoes

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Ever since Marty McFly’s iconic self-lacing sneakers first appeared in 1989’s Back to the Future Part II, tinkerers and designers from all over have sought to make high-tech footwear a reality — and Digitsole’s new Smartshoe stands as one of the most intriguing efforts yet.  Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, these kicks that not only look like they come from the future, but also boast a smorgasbord of smart features, ranging from auto-lacing functionality and Bluetooth 4.0, to sensor-based health analytics and built-in heating pads.

“We don’t want to gadgetize footwear, we want to make the most of it,” Malik Issolah, head of marketing for Digitsole, said. “We started by developing connected insoles, heating and tracking. Then our passion for footwear pushed us to create the craziest shoes. And what’s crazier than a shoe that works by itself? It started as a fun experiment, but then we realized this innovation could make a real change for people who struggle to put shoes on for various reasons.”

“We thought it was high time we came up with a shoe that could meet most any people’s needs in terms of health monitoring,” Issolah continued. “That’s why we included an auto-regulated heating system for comfort and blood circulation issues, a tracker to keep an eye on your activity, and finally a 3D analyzer to give you a full report of your health.”

Read more here

Blackbelt — conveyor belt 3D printer

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

3D printers have come a long way in the past few years. It used to be that they were only found in well-funded engineering labs and the basements of uber-geeky enthusiasts — but now they’re available to anyone with $150. On top of that, the range of materials we can print with has greatly expanded in recent years. It’s not just ABS and PLA anymore; 3D printers can make stuff with wood, clay, nylon, and even metal these days. But despite all the advances we’ve seen lately, there’s still one big limiting factor that’s holding 3D printers back: build envelope. Right now, if you want to make an object that’s bigger than your printer, you’re out of luck — but what if that wasn’t the case?

That’s precisely the idea behind Blackbelt — a clever new 3D printer that recently launched on Kickstarter. Instead of printing onto a static build plate with a fixed set of dimensions, the Blackbelt creates objects on top of a small conveyor belt. This allows the machine to move the print along the Y axis during the printing process and create objects that are actually longer than the printer itself. Alternatively, this configuration also makes it possible to print a continuous stream of objects without the need for an operator to remove each completed part from the build plate.

Read more here

Aryzon — ultra-affordable augmented reality headset

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

With its affordable $20 DIY headset, Google Cardboard set out to make virtual reality accessible to everyone.  Now a new Kickstarter campaign by the startup Aryzon wants to do for augmented reality (AR) what Cardboard did for VR. Thanks to a set of lenses, some cardboard, and a smartphone camera, the comapany’s ultra-cheap AR headset is able to add a virtual layer over the user’s real-world environment.

The result promises to provide stunning AR for quite literally 1 percent the cost of the $3,000 Microsoft Hololens. And it all comes flatpacked in a DIY kit that’s thin enough to fit through your front door mail slot!

“What makes this exciting is that it allows everyone to experience augmented reality,” Maarten Slaa, founder and CEO of Aryzon, said. “We have designed the Aryzon to be as easy to use as possible. It comes as a DIY package, and if you’ve finished arts-and-crafts [class] you will be able to build it. Using the Aryzon is just as easy: just open the app, slide in your phone, and [we] will guide you through the possibilities of AR.”

Read more here

The City Clock — Architecture-inspired clock

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

While certainly not as familiar as regular analog or digital clock faces, our inner geekiness has always dug binary clocks — clocks that display numbers in binary fashion, using only 1s and 0s. Yes, they’re impractical in the sense that they require more than a quick glance to read, but they’re also neat, nerdy fun — and their use of on/off lights can make for some eye-catching timepieces.  That’s certainly the case for The City Clock, a beautiful binary decorative clock that just arrived on Kickstarter.

Resembling the kind of classic Parisian building you’d spot on a stroll along the Seine, the City Clock employs the use of light-up windows to indicate time. From the impressive levels of detail, you can almost imagine the tiny French inhabitants switching lights on and off as they enter or exit rooms.  The first floor of the house equals 1, the second floor equals 2, the third equals 4, and the top floor equals 8. Using this system, it’s possible to create every digit from 0 to 9 by adding one number to another. All that’s needed is a bit of mental math.

Read more here

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Cheap AR goggles, 3D printing on a conveyor belt

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week’s most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don’t grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail — even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Hammocraft — multipurpose hammock stand

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Over the past few years, many backpackers have taken to replacing their traditional tents with a hammock, and it’s easy to see why. Hammocks are often lighter, easier to carry, simpler to set up, and offer better all-around comfort. But you know what they can’t do? Float. And that’s a bummer, because a floating hammock would basically be the best invention since individually-wrapped cheese slices.

But if lazily floating over a body of water while suspended in midair has always been a dream of yours, then we have good news for you: there’s finally a way to make it happen.

The Hammocraft is a hammock suspension system designed to sit atop just about anything. If you don’t have access to a body of water, you can set it up it on the ground and support up to five hammocks at once — but that’s just the most basic use of its abilities. If you feel like stepping up your lounge game, this crazy contraption can be affixed to a pair of kayaks (or paddleboards, or whatever) to make it buoyant. That means you and four of your closest friends can enjoy your hammocks in the middle of a lake — or even take them down a lazy river.

Read more here

Digitsole Smartshoe — activity tracking smart shoes

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Ever since Marty McFly’s iconic self-lacing sneakers first appeared in 1989’s Back to the Future Part II, tinkerers and designers from all over have sought to make high-tech footwear a reality — and Digitsole’s new Smartshoe stands as one of the most intriguing efforts yet.  Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, these kicks that not only look like they come from the future, but also boast a smorgasbord of smart features, ranging from auto-lacing functionality and Bluetooth 4.0, to sensor-based health analytics and built-in heating pads.

“We don’t want to gadgetize footwear, we want to make the most of it,” Malik Issolah, head of marketing for Digitsole, said. “We started by developing connected insoles, heating and tracking. Then our passion for footwear pushed us to create the craziest shoes. And what’s crazier than a shoe that works by itself? It started as a fun experiment, but then we realized this innovation could make a real change for people who struggle to put shoes on for various reasons.”

“We thought it was high time we came up with a shoe that could meet most any people’s needs in terms of health monitoring,” Issolah continued. “That’s why we included an auto-regulated heating system for comfort and blood circulation issues, a tracker to keep an eye on your activity, and finally a 3D analyzer to give you a full report of your health.”

Read more here

Blackbelt — conveyor belt 3D printer

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

3D printers have come a long way in the past few years. It used to be that they were only found in well-funded engineering labs and the basements of uber-geeky enthusiasts — but now they’re available to anyone with $150. On top of that, the range of materials we can print with has greatly expanded in recent years. It’s not just ABS and PLA anymore; 3D printers can make stuff with wood, clay, nylon, and even metal these days. But despite all the advances we’ve seen lately, there’s still one big limiting factor that’s holding 3D printers back: build envelope. Right now, if you want to make an object that’s bigger than your printer, you’re out of luck — but what if that wasn’t the case?

That’s precisely the idea behind Blackbelt — a clever new 3D printer that recently launched on Kickstarter. Instead of printing onto a static build plate with a fixed set of dimensions, the Blackbelt creates objects on top of a small conveyor belt. This allows the machine to move the print along the Y axis during the printing process and create objects that are actually longer than the printer itself. Alternatively, this configuration also makes it possible to print a continuous stream of objects without the need for an operator to remove each completed part from the build plate.

Read more here

Aryzon — ultra-affordable augmented reality headset

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

With its affordable $20 DIY headset, Google Cardboard set out to make virtual reality accessible to everyone.  Now a new Kickstarter campaign by the startup Aryzon wants to do for augmented reality (AR) what Cardboard did for VR. Thanks to a set of lenses, some cardboard, and a smartphone camera, the comapany’s ultra-cheap AR headset is able to add a virtual layer over the user’s real-world environment.

The result promises to provide stunning AR for quite literally 1 percent the cost of the $3,000 Microsoft Hololens. And it all comes flatpacked in a DIY kit that’s thin enough to fit through your front door mail slot!

“What makes this exciting is that it allows everyone to experience augmented reality,” Maarten Slaa, founder and CEO of Aryzon, said. “We have designed the Aryzon to be as easy to use as possible. It comes as a DIY package, and if you’ve finished arts-and-crafts [class] you will be able to build it. Using the Aryzon is just as easy: just open the app, slide in your phone, and [we] will guide you through the possibilities of AR.”

Read more here

The City Clock — Architecture-inspired clock

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

While certainly not as familiar as regular analog or digital clock faces, our inner geekiness has always dug binary clocks — clocks that display numbers in binary fashion, using only 1s and 0s. Yes, they’re impractical in the sense that they require more than a quick glance to read, but they’re also neat, nerdy fun — and their use of on/off lights can make for some eye-catching timepieces.  That’s certainly the case for The City Clock, a beautiful binary decorative clock that just arrived on Kickstarter.

Resembling the kind of classic Parisian building you’d spot on a stroll along the Seine, the City Clock employs the use of light-up windows to indicate time. From the impressive levels of detail, you can almost imagine the tiny French inhabitants switching lights on and off as they enter or exit rooms.  The first floor of the house equals 1, the second floor equals 2, the third equals 4, and the top floor equals 8. Using this system, it’s possible to create every digit from 0 to 9 by adding one number to another. All that’s needed is a bit of mental math.

Read more here

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Cheap AR goggles, 3D printing on a conveyor belt

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there — alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week’s most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don’t grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail — even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.

Hammocraft — multipurpose hammock stand

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Over the past few years, many backpackers have taken to replacing their traditional tents with a hammock, and it’s easy to see why. Hammocks are often lighter, easier to carry, simpler to set up, and offer better all-around comfort. But you know what they can’t do? Float. And that’s a bummer, because a floating hammock would basically be the best invention since individually-wrapped cheese slices.

But if lazily floating over a body of water while suspended in midair has always been a dream of yours, then we have good news for you: there’s finally a way to make it happen.

The Hammocraft is a hammock suspension system designed to sit atop just about anything. If you don’t have access to a body of water, you can set it up it on the ground and support up to five hammocks at once — but that’s just the most basic use of its abilities. If you feel like stepping up your lounge game, this crazy contraption can be affixed to a pair of kayaks (or paddleboards, or whatever) to make it buoyant. That means you and four of your closest friends can enjoy your hammocks in the middle of a lake — or even take them down a lazy river.

Read more here

Digitsole Smartshoe — activity tracking smart shoes

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Ever since Marty McFly’s iconic self-lacing sneakers first appeared in 1989’s Back to the Future Part II, tinkerers and designers from all over have sought to make high-tech footwear a reality — and Digitsole’s new Smartshoe stands as one of the most intriguing efforts yet.  Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, these kicks that not only look like they come from the future, but also boast a smorgasbord of smart features, ranging from auto-lacing functionality and Bluetooth 4.0, to sensor-based health analytics and built-in heating pads.

“We don’t want to gadgetize footwear, we want to make the most of it,” Malik Issolah, head of marketing for Digitsole, said. “We started by developing connected insoles, heating and tracking. Then our passion for footwear pushed us to create the craziest shoes. And what’s crazier than a shoe that works by itself? It started as a fun experiment, but then we realized this innovation could make a real change for people who struggle to put shoes on for various reasons.”

“We thought it was high time we came up with a shoe that could meet most any people’s needs in terms of health monitoring,” Issolah continued. “That’s why we included an auto-regulated heating system for comfort and blood circulation issues, a tracker to keep an eye on your activity, and finally a 3D analyzer to give you a full report of your health.”

Read more here

Blackbelt — conveyor belt 3D printer

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

3D printers have come a long way in the past few years. It used to be that they were only found in well-funded engineering labs and the basements of uber-geeky enthusiasts — but now they’re available to anyone with $150. On top of that, the range of materials we can print with has greatly expanded in recent years. It’s not just ABS and PLA anymore; 3D printers can make stuff with wood, clay, nylon, and even metal these days. But despite all the advances we’ve seen lately, there’s still one big limiting factor that’s holding 3D printers back: build envelope. Right now, if you want to make an object that’s bigger than your printer, you’re out of luck — but what if that wasn’t the case?

That’s precisely the idea behind Blackbelt — a clever new 3D printer that recently launched on Kickstarter. Instead of printing onto a static build plate with a fixed set of dimensions, the Blackbelt creates objects on top of a small conveyor belt. This allows the machine to move the print along the Y axis during the printing process and create objects that are actually longer than the printer itself. Alternatively, this configuration also makes it possible to print a continuous stream of objects without the need for an operator to remove each completed part from the build plate.

Read more here

Aryzon — ultra-affordable augmented reality headset

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

With its affordable $20 DIY headset, Google Cardboard set out to make virtual reality accessible to everyone.  Now a new Kickstarter campaign by the startup Aryzon wants to do for augmented reality (AR) what Cardboard did for VR. Thanks to a set of lenses, some cardboard, and a smartphone camera, the comapany’s ultra-cheap AR headset is able to add a virtual layer over the user’s real-world environment.

The result promises to provide stunning AR for quite literally 1 percent the cost of the $3,000 Microsoft Hololens. And it all comes flatpacked in a DIY kit that’s thin enough to fit through your front door mail slot!

“What makes this exciting is that it allows everyone to experience augmented reality,” Maarten Slaa, founder and CEO of Aryzon, said. “We have designed the Aryzon to be as easy to use as possible. It comes as a DIY package, and if you’ve finished arts-and-crafts [class] you will be able to build it. Using the Aryzon is just as easy: just open the app, slide in your phone, and [we] will guide you through the possibilities of AR.”

Read more here

The City Clock — Architecture-inspired clock

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

While certainly not as familiar as regular analog or digital clock faces, our inner geekiness has always dug binary clocks — clocks that display numbers in binary fashion, using only 1s and 0s. Yes, they’re impractical in the sense that they require more than a quick glance to read, but they’re also neat, nerdy fun — and their use of on/off lights can make for some eye-catching timepieces.  That’s certainly the case for The City Clock, a beautiful binary decorative clock that just arrived on Kickstarter.

Resembling the kind of classic Parisian building you’d spot on a stroll along the Seine, the City Clock employs the use of light-up windows to indicate time. From the impressive levels of detail, you can almost imagine the tiny French inhabitants switching lights on and off as they enter or exit rooms.  The first floor of the house equals 1, the second floor equals 2, the third equals 4, and the top floor equals 8. Using this system, it’s possible to create every digit from 0 to 9 by adding one number to another. All that’s needed is a bit of mental math.

Read more here

5 songs you need to stream this week: Mike WiLL Made-It, Jack White with Elton John, and more

Every week, there are thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves — and it’s just too much for your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks that deserve a thumbs-down click.

But don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most-hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you which are worthy of your precious listening time.

Here are our top five songs to stream this week. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our Spotify page for a playlist of our weekly picks, which can also be found at the bottom of this post.

Mike WiLL Made-It — Perfect Pint (Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Gucci Mane, Rae Sremmurd)

One of this week’s top offerings comes from acclaimed producer Mike WiLL Made-IT, whose Perfect Pint features three of the biggest names in rap — Kendrick Lamar, Gucci Mane, and Rae Sremmurd. It’s a trap-influenced track with a bit more atmospheric feel than the typical Southern rap fare, and is capped off with an excellent guest verse from Lamar.

Jack White and Elton John — Two Fingers of Whiskey

A single vintage microphone recorded this collaboration between Sir Elton John and Jack White straight to vinyl as part of American Epic Sessions, an upcoming documentary about early American recording techniques. Two Fingers of Whiskey is a rollicking single that feels like it could easily have been found on a dive bar jukebox in the mid-20th century.

Julia Jacklin — Don’t Let The Kids Win (And More)

Australian songwriter Julia Jacklin’s gorgeous voice captivates you from the first lyric of this live version of Don’t Let The Kids Win, the opening song from her recent performance as part of NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series of concerts. Gentle Telecaster guitar and backing vocals round out the performance, with the songs that follow it providing a deeper glimpse into Jacklin’s vintage songwriting influences.

The War On Drugs — A Deeper Understanding

The War On Drugs have long been known for their pulsating rhythms and simple vocal melodies, and that is certainly true of the band’s latest cut, A Deeper Understanding. A perfect addition to a weekend run or long train ride, the rhythm drives your ears to a state of contentment during all of its nearly six-minute runtime.

Jay Som — The Bus Song (And More)

Oakland-based songwriter Melina Duterte’s Jay Som project has been gaining notice since the band’s album Everybody Works dropped earlier this year. It’s an elegantly produced work that has been capturing ears the world over. These live versions of songs from Everybody Works were recorded for Seattle’s KEXP Radio, and showcase the singer’s softer side, with Duterte’s gentle and smooth voice providing an interesting complement to the original studio takes.

That’s it for now, but tune in next week for more tunes, and check out the playlist loaded with our recent selections below:

Jump into virtual reality with a friend with these WebVR-enabled experiments

Bored of being in virtual reality by yourself? Ask a friend to join with these easy-to-play Chrome-enabled experiences.

Virtual reality is still a relatively nascent technology that’s yet to really storm the mainstream. As a result, it’s not in everyone’s home the way, say, a television set or a desktop computer might be. But as long as one of you has a virtual reality headset you can put to use, there are a couple of web-enabled virtual reality experiments you can play together to help pass the time until both of you are equipped with the proper headgear.

Read more at VR Heads!

Digital Offers: Light the way for $30

Have you ever been filling your butane lighter or picking one up from the convenience store and been like, “man, I wish you could light things without flames and accelerant?” No? Me either, but wouldn’t it be nice to carry around a handy lighter that doesn’t require fuel?

Set all the things on fire for $30 Learn more

The Plasma Torch lighter is a lighter that uses plasma wave technology to create a “flame” that’s even hotter than fire and can’t be snuffed out by the wind. It looks basically like a mini-taser. This is a two-pack, which usually retails for around $200, given the complex technology involved, but at Android Digital Offers, you can get it for $29.99, a savings of 85%.

The Plasma Torch runs off a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and it’s good for over 300 uses. Once dead, it charges up again in about an hour. The best part is that these convenient devices are TSA-approved, so travel is a breeze (you won’t have to chuck it out at security).

This lighter is chemical free, so there’s no harm to you or the environment (unless you touch the hot plasma, so don’t do that). You could pay $200 retail, or you could check out Android Central Digital Offers and save 85% and pay only $29.99.

Set all the things on fire for $30 Learn more