All posts by Vincent

ZUtA, the First Portable Robotic Printer

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Robots are taking over!

Last year, ZUtA Labs created a newZUtA Printer printing kind of printer, a portable robotic printer. I was so amazed when I read about this small robotic printer I just had to share it with you. The technology that is being used here is absolutely amazing. The ZUtA makes it possible to print everywhere, as it is only 10.2cm in diameter, 7.5cm in height and it weighs only 350gr. As of right now, competitors and other companies are looking into this idea to come up with their own version of this printing machine. One fact is for sure: interesting times are ahead of us. December of this year the first ZUtA’s will be delivered. I’ve already ordered mine and I can’t wait to get it. In the meanwhile, you should definitely check out this great portable photo printer too.

Great Features

ZUtA labs made a breakthrough invention by creating the world’s first portable robotic printer. The ZUtA printer can be connected to any device with Wi-Fi connection. It can work with all operating systems, is designed to work with micro USB charging to work for around 60 pages or about one hour per full battery. It can print with a speed of 1 to 1.2 pages per minute with a 300 dpi quality (not the fastest printer ever!) on standard paper sizes and prints rather quietly unlike the existing printers we know. All things considered I think this is really fast for such a small device.

A cartridge of ink can produce approximately 100 pages and you can easily replace the cartridge with a new one. For now ZUtA can only print with black ink. Pre order is still open for $299 and the printer is going to be shipped to your door by December 2016.

Desktop printers are always getting smaller and easier to use, but we still have a long way to go. This is why ZUtA came out. To provide people with a very small and easy solution to our everyday printing problems. You can print directly from your phone or tablet on any paper sizes.

My Prediction and Latest Updates

I absolutely think this is the future. ZUtA Labs is definitely ahead of its competitors. According to the latest news, ZUtA is also going to be able to print images. ZUtA Labs has been very honest and straightforward to its customers and continues to do so. ‘’ Beginning with a successful Kickstarter campaign, to winning awards and shows, including the Best of Innovation at CES, we have matured into a great company. As we move forward with the development, our ability to print out different images develops too.‘’ The last months they have been focusing on getting the accuracy nailed with the robot’s movement.

If you are interested in more news about them feel free to ask me in the comments and I will keep you updated, or you can always follow them on their website where they post the latest updates.

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Why we should protect our printers!

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Last week thousands of printers all over the United States got hacked and started printing out propaganda of Nazi Germany. All of those prints contained racist messages and anti-Semitic images.

Everybody without proper protection was a target. Universities like Princeton and Washington University, college campuses, businesses and even individuals got hit by the attack. Reports came from all over the country. After a thorough investigation, it turned out this was he work of the notorious hacker named Andrew Auernheimer, also known as “Weev”. chicken essayWeev thinks of himself as a hactivist who fights for freedom of speech and fighting the white genocide. He claims the attack was an experiment to show people how vulnerable they are. Furthermore he thinks of his actions as a prank. Other than his Nazi flyers, he also distributed “chicken flyers”. He hopes people will learn from this and realize that they need to keep their devices protected at all time.

Auernheimer was able to hack into those printers because they were all hooked up to the internet via open and unsecured connections. In total, about a million of printers got hit by the attack. Currently the FBI and police are working together to investigate the attack and how to prevent this from happening again. If an individual is capable of inflicting an attack on such a big scale, internet connections and devices rapidly need to get more secure.

My advice would be to check your connection. If you are still making use of an unsecured internet connection, not only your printer but all your devices can be in danger. In this particular case, the ‘damage’ is rather small, but the same kind of leak can definitely have a big impact. Hackers with bad intentions can get to your personal information or launch bigger attacks on websites or computers using this same method.

Vincent

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How to Make Money With a Printer

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Some of the Best Ways to Make Money With a Printer

Have you been wondering how to make money with a printer?Make-Money-With-a-Printer

You came to the right place! I will provide you with the most interesting techniques to make money with a printer and none of those will lead to jail!

Lots of possibilities, choose 1

First of all there are many different ways to make money with a printer. There isn’t just 1 correct way. Everybody will have to figure out for himself what he/she likes the most and what niche you want to dig into. A niche market is a smaller part of the market on which a specific product or service is focused. Examples of niches include printing services like textile printing, advertisements, wide format printing, postcards, printer repairing, selling ink,… All of those could become profitable businesses. However, you shouldn’t  try to be a master of everything when you start out. Lots can be said about all of these activities but today I will briefly discuss some of the things I have done myself and end with my personal conclusion about the matter.

  • Textile Printing

All you need is a printing press, a plotter, a website and you are good to go. Many types of textile can be printed on. My advice would be to start with t-shirts and sweaters. Biggest challenge will probably be your marketing campaign and branding. While you could try to sell online, word-of-mouth advertising can work just fine and everybody can do this when handled correctly. I first started selling t-shirtsMake-Money-With-a-Printer-T-shirts to all my friends back In high school. They liked my service and soon enough I was selling to people in the entire school(and other schools).

 

“You can create a business, choose a name, but unless people know about it you’re not going to sell any products.” – Sir Richard Branson

  • Make-Money-With-a-Printer-AdvertisementAdvertisements

Get yourself a wide format printer and start making all kinds of advertisements and large printing jobs. This can be wallpapers, murals, signs on trucks and cars, canvas prints, banners, floor graphics,… Literally anything is possible and both businesses and private customers will make use of your services. From my experience, banners are pure money. On average it costs $1 per square foot to print them and selling them starts at $5 and up in most places. Super easy to do and great profit.

  • 3D printing

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have your own 3D printing company? The excitement one gets about 3D printing(or me at least!) can definitely break down barriers to become an entrepreneur. However, 3D printing isn’t as easy as the previous ideas I gave. As with most things in life, it will come with a lot of ups and downs.

Be realistic, don’t expect you will be makingMake-Money-With-a-Printer-lulzbot millions with a 3D printing hobby. That’s just not going to happen. It can take many years and hard work to become very successful. The 3D printing learning curve is enormous, but anybody who is willing enough to invest time and money in it can make it work and earn a lot of $$$. The moment your business starts rolling it all comes down to scaling. If you want to earn more you will have to learn more. It’s as simple as that.

Like I said, lot of knowledge is involved in the 3D printing process. You will need to learn about every aspect of the industry. People need to come to You when they need help. You have to be that go-to-person. With technologies that are ever evolving (and they evolve fast), the learning process will never stop.

Please don’t run away and be all discouraged now. We live in a world that is providing us this knowledge in a lot of ways. Internet has a lot to offer and you would be surprised about how much information you can absorb in just a day. Of course you want the information to be valuable and relevant to you. A good starting point(for pretty much anything) can be You Tube for example. This video-sharing website contains 1.000.000’s of ‘how to’ video’s all rated by people just like you. The rating of a video can be a good clue to see if the information is valuable or not. When I come across a low rated video I almost instantly skip to another one.

 

For those who already own a 3D printer and want some printing jobs, Shapeways.com is the place to be. People can upload their precious models and let somebody else print it for them. Those who own a printer can start their own online shop and start printing the uploaded designs. Shapeways.com will take care of the business side of the transactions. Although it’s harder to do, you could also create designs yourself and try to sell them.

Conclusion

To conclude, to make money with a printer is possible in a lot of different ways. Depending on your qualities and motivation, one could turn a printing hobby into a real business for sure. With the huge growth in the 3D printer market, there are some nice opportunities to make money with a printer. Don’t hesitate and make your own dreams come true by becoming a full time entrepreneur!

If you would be left with any questions, please drop a comment below.

Vincent

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