Wearable Tech, Bitcoin, 3D Printing, Crowdfunding 2/8-2/15

Here is what is going on in the universe of Wearable Tech, Bitcoin, 3D Printing, and Crowdfunding:


Wearable Tech
- #wearabletech
- NBA D-League to wear sensors (Fast Company story here).
- GoPro goes IPO (wearable tech news story here).


Bitcoin
- #bitcoin
- The current price of Bitcoin (from Coinbase) is in the $650 range
- Mt. Gox to start withdrawals soon (Entrepreneur story here).


3D Printing
- With so much happening on a daily basis, Twitter is a great place to keep up.

- UK Surgeon implants 3D printed pelvis (business insider story  here).


Crowdfunding

- #crowdfunding

Wearable Tech, Bitcoin, 3D Printing, and Crowdfunding Weekly News (Makerbot, Mt. Gox, Google, more )

Here are what is going on in the Wearable Tech, 3D Printing, Bitcoin, and Crowdfunding areas:

3D Printing

- Is 3D Industry starting to mature? There is a recent story (link here) in 3D Printing Industry that speaks about how Makerbot is halving the price of one of its scanners from $1500 to $750. In November, 3D Systems priced one of its scanners at $400.00. Is there currently or will there be a Dell version of the 3D Industry?

Wearable Tech

- If Google were to have a watch coming out, here are some recommendations. A TechCrunch article is here.


Bitcoin

Oh man, what a week for Bitcoin. And not necessarily in a good way, either. The value of bitcoin (per Coinbase) is $728.00

- Mt. Gox has been shutdown. The Wired story link is here.

- The popularity of Bitcoin is hitting elementary schools. A student did a science project on Bitcoin. The pic is here.

Crowdfunding

For all things crowdfunding, be sure to use #crowdfunding on twitter.

Wearable Tech, Bitcoin, 3D Printing, and Crowdfunding Report (2/1)

Hey

The following items of note occurred during the previous week in the areas of Wearable Tech, Bitcoin, 3D Printing, and Crowdfunding.

Wearable Tech

- Polar was recognized by Keane Venture Capital and Consulting as being their Group of the week. The story is here.


Bitcoin

- The value of a bitcoin (as reported by Coinbase) is currently $824.53.

- Mexican 7-Elevens are now accepting Bitcoin. The Bitcoin Owl story is here.

- There will be a conference on Bitcoin in New York on April 7-8. Details are here.


3D Printing

- As always, Twitter is a fantastic way to keep up with the expanding business of 3D Printing. @3dprintgirl is one that has given a high level of value

- A story from 3dprint.com (link here) describes how Makerbot teamed up with donorschoose.org and crowdfunding sources everywhere to put a 3d printer in every school for only $98.00.


Crowdfunding

- See above for how powerful 3D companies are using crowdfunding to put a 3D printer in every public school at a cost to the school of only $98.00.

- Kiva has started Kiva Labs. Check it out here.

Wearable Tech, 3D Printing, and Bitcoin News of The Week (Jan 19-25)

Hey Everyone

Here are some things that are going on in the Wearable Tech, 3D Printing and Bitcoin Universes:

Wearable Tech:

Fast Company reported on a hackathon for Wearable Tech. The story is here.


Bitcoin:

Payment Industry targeted by Bitcoin development Businessweek story here

The price of bitcoin (by Coinbase) is currently $829.69.

3D Printing:

Check out various Twitter handles in #3dprinting. There are many different handles to follow and educate yourself on the great industry that is 3D Printing! You will find important developments on medical technology, local manufacturing and innovation, and more.

Bitcoin and 3D Printing News Jan 12-18 (FBI, NBA, NASA, Hershey's + 3D Systems, more)

Bitcoin

- A Wired article (here) shows how Twitter is using Bitcoin code to protect itself.

- Fast Company article (here) on how NBA's Sacramento Kings are accepting bitcoin.

- FBI to sell Bitcoin received from Silk Road shutdown (pando story here)


3D Printing

- NASA 3D Printing Moon bases. Story from Printboard.com (here)

- Hershey joins the fun by partnering with 3D Systems! Story (here)

Wearable Tech being added to 2014 List Joining Bitcoin and 3D Printing

KVCC Idea Lab is going to add wearable tech to the 2014 Disruptor List joining Bitcoin and 3D Printing. KVCC has realized that wearable tech is going to be a top topic during 2014.

The blog has recognized that there is just too much going on in the wearable tech space not to acknowledge its movement in 2014. Because it is such a new industry, small niche companies like Recon and Misfit Wearables to giant companies like Nike and Google have an immense opportunity in front of them and are putting their best products forward. There is no telling how many different industries that will be affected by the wearable tech movement. That is exciting.

For example, Wired has made Wearable Tech the cover story of its Jan 2014 issue (link to article here)

Welcome wearable tech! Let's have a very disruptive, successful 2014!

Bitcoin and 3D Printing News Jan 4-11 (Overstock.com says yes, CES, and more)

Here is the news for Bitcoin and 3D Printing during the week of Jan 4-11.

Bitcoin

Having Overstock.com and Zynga start accepting Bitcoin is another step forward for Bitcoin. Having articles written by Bloomberg Businessweek as well as videos from Bloomberg and CNBC continue to enhance the growth of Bitcoin.

- Overstock.com has decided to start to accept Bitcoin. The story from CNBC is here.

- Bloomberg video on popularity of Bitcoin (video here.)

- Price of Bitcoin is currently about $820.00 (per Coinbase).

- There is an informative article about Bitcoin from Businessweek (here)

- Wired article on dangers of monopolization of Bitcoin mining (here)

3D Printing

It was a very busy week for 3D printing as CES is going on in Las Vegas. To follow activities going on, following @3dprintindustry for regular updates. You can also follow individual companies like 3D Systems (@3dsystems) if that is better for you.

- Bloomberg put out a video (click here) on "The New Player in the 3D Printing Market".

-

Bitcoin and 3D Printing News for Dec 29-Jan 4

The following items were noticed during the previous week:

Bitcoin

- A story by Entrepreneur magazine (here) about the growing amount of Bitcoin ATM's.

- Price is now back around $1000.00 per coin.

3D Printing

- To be very involved on the 3D Printing, following 3D Printing' Industry's twitter handle (@3dprintindustry) will keep you up to date on most everything 3D Printing

- It was announced that 3D Systems has made another acquisition and has stock near $100.00. A previous post about its stock movement can be found here.

Bitcoin and 3D Printing News Dec 14-20

The disruptive nature of Bitcoins and 3D Printing continues to grow. The following news items were found on how Bitcoins and 3D Printing have continued its growth. 

Bitcoin

- KeaneVCC has created an account with Coinbase. 

- Value of Bitcoin is currently about $600.00

3D Printing

- 3D Systems purchases Xerox engineering group. Story here. 

- 3D Printing Industry is a good twitter handle to follow. @3dprintindustry

Bitcoin and 3D Printing News Week of December 7-13

The disruptive nature of Bitcoins and 3D Printing continues to grow. The following news items were found on how Bitcoins and 3D Printing have continued its growth.

Bitcoin

- Andreesen Horowitz has invested $25 million in Coinbase. Find the All Things D story here.
- KVCC has opened an account with Coinbase.



3D Printing

- 3D Printing lets doctors Draw Cells on Bone, story here.

2014 Year of The Bitcoin and 3D Printing

One of the things that the end of a year brings is predictions for the next year. In fine fashion, Keane Venture Capital and Consulting will dive in head first in this aspect.

One thought had is that 2014 will be the year of Bitcoin and 3D Printing. The expansion of both items will make every day media outlets and business provide coverage and opinions that will reach the majority of the public. Both items are using the rise of popularity with the increased access to create and change marketplaces.

3D printers are just starting to get mass penetration into many different markets. The feeling is that it will have a snowball effect on manufacturing in general with lower costs and speed improvements. There will probably be some purchases of 3D printing companies by larger, more seasoned companies like Hewlett Packard, Canon, Motorola, and others. The Wall Street Journal just wrote an article on how the United States Congress is in the process of passing a law banning the manufacturing of fully operational plastic guns since metal detectors cannot pick them up. Idea Lab has already mentioned the weapons in an article written here. 

Bitcoin has already received more attention in the last few months than ever before. Investors are starting to come to be interested. Exchanges are starting the process of entering the mainstream by getting hearings by government regulators. Recently, an ATM was delivered in Vancouver. There is growth in organizations that are accepting the bitcoin as payment. As more and more market penetration occurs, the popularity will increase. 2014 looks to be the year for that to happen. Maybe the Winklevoss twins are on to something here.

A weekly article on the growth of 3D printing and Bitcoin will happen on this blog. As Bitcoin and 3D printing expand, many positives will occur for businesses related to both. By the end of 2014, both are predicted to have a monumental impact on both manufacturing and finance.

3D Printing's Monster Potential Effect on Everything

Recent stories on 3D manufacturing have created some thoughts on how disruptive this technology and product really can be. It seems that over time newer 3D printers are consistently creating higher quality items at lower prices than the older models. This is great news for consumers and local manufacturing. This is not so good news for high quantity manufacturers that have a lot of distance between themselves and the consumer (think China). It could be a mixed bag for governments. Tax receipts should increase due to the increase in manufacturing. But regulators are going to have a big task on hand trying to control the safety of products. The ripples of this product will go far and wide into almost every industry.

Recently, there was a story by Fast Company that showed a weapon being created and successfully fired. The weapon was created by Solid Concepts, out of Austin, Texas. This can truly be considered a disrupter. How the firearms industry as well as governments handle such a product being able to be produced at a high level will be interesting.

What will become of the overseas toy factory as more higher powered 3D printers come into the market place? The cost benefit of the manufacturing process that low cost factories currently hold (cheap labor) will probably be erased by the savings in shipping and product time to market. Factory closings and job loss is not something governments will be looking positively on.  

Auxiliary industries will also have to heed this development. Shipping will no doubt be impacted in a large way. Countries with a high number of consumers should benefit from this economic development. This will probably create more jobs in heavy consumer economies. Basic material and natural resource usage will increase providing higher employment.

Government receipts should increase for high consumer based countries and will undoubtedly shrink for those countries with a small consumer base. Countries that have do not have a strong manufacturing infrastructure can now manufacture more now.

. The ability to create what you want when you want is getting a little closer with this product and the technology that comes along with it. This is exciting.