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Carvey's desktop carving machine lets anyone be an industrial designer
We love desktop 3D printers, except that it's hard to do anything useful with the flimsy, thermoplastic results. However, the folks at Inventables want to change that with Carvey, a home-based CNC machine that etches your designs on wood or brass. Since there are plenty of digital carving machines out there already, the team differentiated Carvey by claiming that you can go from initial sketches to a final product in under five minutes. As such, it includes the company's Easel design software, which runs in a computer web browser (you can also use any CAD and machine control software).
We carved a custom bottle opener with the free Easel web app
Inventables' Shapeoko 2 desktop computer controlled (CNC) milling machine just got a whole lot more attractive. The company's new Easel tool is a free design and fabrication web app designed for the $650 open-source kit, which launched last October. The new duo will enable you to design objects in 2D with a real-time 3D preview, then "print" your creation using a USB-equipped CNC milling machine (such as the Shapeoko) with wood, plastic or soft metal. Best of all, Inventables has whipped up an interface so straightforward even an Engadget editor could figure it out. Creating designs, such as the bottle opener we tossed together is a simple drag and drop affair, and requires no prior experience. While you should be able to design basic objects in less than five minutes, assembling a Shapeoko can take considerably more time. Fortunately, Zach Kaplan happened to have one ready to go, so we caught up with the Inventables CEO to try out the new cloud-based design tool here at SXSW.
Litl Easel Webbook gets the extensive hands-on treatment (video)
Wait a minute -- you say you've been longing to get your hands on an overpriced netbook that you can use upside-down? Well, kids, the time is drawing nigh. Mere days after the Litl Easel Webbook went official we've become privy to a lengthy video of the bad boy in action. Indeed, things are as you expected: a 1.6GHz Atom-based machine running a proprietary web-optimized OS, this guy has been specially designed, in the words of the company's CEO, to do away with "the computery stuff." To that end, users will see no icons or folders in the desktop. Such tried-and-true stalwarts of computer interface design have been eschewed for "web cards." Indeed, you won't be able to overlap or resize windows at all, at all: unless you're in easel mode, in which case you scroll through cards one at a time with a wheel. But there's more! Users may "liberate the photo" in a manner not unlike a digiframe the fraction of the cost, thanks to the device's integration with several photo-sharing services (including Shutterfly and Flickr). Still curious? I bet you are. Hit up the video after the break and prepare to have all of your dreams fulfilled (well, maybe not).
Litl Easel Webbook now official, unbelievably overpriced
How much would you pay for a netbook? $200 on contract? Maybe as much as $599 for a so-called premium model? How about $699 -- a price that doesn't even include the $19 remote control? Well, what if we told you that the Litl Webbook, a 1.6GHz Atom-based machine running a proprietary web-optimized OS that pumps accelerated H.264 content at 720p over HDMI-out, has a unique hinge that allows it to bend backwards and stand upright like an easel? Sorry, no touchscreen... but that display is 12.1-inches and you get Flickr and Facebook content as well as custom "channels" like The Weather Channel displayed in a "fun" and "engaging" way. You can even scroll between content via that baby-blue scrollwheel on the hinge. Not enough? What about the 2GB of storage, 1GB of memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, headphone and USB 2.0 jacks? Still not sold? Us neither. %Gallery-77267%
Litl Easel 'web computer' is cute as a baby-blue button
Sorry Litl, but the FCC just spoiled your surprise party. Described as "a web computer" running Litl OS (sorry Microsoft), the 3.38-pound Litl Easel (built by FIC) packs a 1.86GHz Atom Z540 processor beneath that 12.1-inch 1280x800 pixel display, a meager 2GB of storage, 1GB of DDR2 memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, and webcam all powered by a 2600MAh battery. There's also HDMI, a single USB jack, and an IR receiver for a Litl remote. A dedicated baby-blue "Litl" key on the keyboard would appear to act like a home key that takes you back to the "Card View" home page. Based on the description from the manual, the Litl OS will present information in stacks of cards: blue cards are "permanent" cards for the card catalog, family and friends, and settings; white cards are web cards displayed in a Mozilla browser; and black "channel" cards (known as widgets everywhere else) feature a Litl alarm clock, New York Times headline ticker, and weather channel. And if the cutsie-wutsie factor of the Litl Easel is lost on you then perhaps the "best results if plugged in" label on the power brick will help drive the message home. Litl already has a teaser page up so we expect this to launch Stateside sometime before the holidays. %Gallery-76662% Read -- FCC document Read -- Litl teaser
