Apr 10 2011

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Google Tech Incubator “Umbono” Comes to South Africa

Google has helped back companies, research, education, and other major projects around the world. With the help of Google’s advanced technology, property space, and – of course – their ability to fund startups, Google is the real capital investor behind a great number of projects worldwide. Now Google is taking their business-starting abilities to South Africa through the “tech incubator” named Umbono.

The application process for potential projects has been open sine mid-March, but is now coming to a close (the final date for applications is April 15th), and the final preparatory steps for actual launch are now taking place. Google’s Umbono team states they are looking for those who are passionate about both their project and about technology, but they have narrowed the potential business fields any further than that.

Applications that are accepted will receive the following:

• $25,000 to $50,000 in startup funding, provided by Google and a panel of angel investors.
• Six months of free office space and access to advanced technology through Google’s Umbono facilities.
• Business advice from an advisory panel of Google experts.
• Access to business curriculum designed by Google staff.
• Visibility assistance through Google’s network tools.

The Umbono facilities, advisory team, and other resources are located in Cape Town, South Africa. This tech incubation program, while it mirrors some earlier Google funding projects, is exclusive to that region. And, for those curious, the name of the project is isiZulu for “vision.”

[via Tech Crunch]

 

Written By:

Rob Young | @RobDYoungWrites

Rob has been insatiably obsessed with Google, search engine technology, and the trends of the web-based world since he began life as a webmaster in 2002. His move into SEO work in 2006, and subsequently to writing for technology and Internet-focused publications, has done nothing but fuel this passion.

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Dictionary.com has 17 definitions of the verb “to print,” but none of them conjure up images like the metal cross you see on your right, or other objects such as glass figurines, iPad covers or even shoes — all of which can now be printed with the help of special machines.

The process of “3D printing” only loosely corresponds to our common image of printing. It may, however, revolutionize the way we define and interact with manufacturing.

Chief among the proponents of this view is The Economist, speculating in a February cover story that the technology “has the potential to transform manufacturing because it lowers the costs and risks,” thus opening it to smaller players. It’s not hard to see this line of logic. Just picture a local craftsman able to make his own customized bicycle using parts created from his printer.

“3D printing will for sure be a new mode of manufacturing,” says Peter Weijmarshausen, the CEO of Shapeways, which creates 3D objects for consumers. “People are no longer only happy with mass-produced products that all look the same. That is just what mass production has given them. With 3D printing you can produce en masse custom and personalized products at perhaps almost the same prices.”

The Cost

At the moment, 3D printing is more of a curiosity than a threat to the status quo. One roadblock holding up the revolution is cost. For example, Z Corp’s 3D printers range from $14,900 to $59,900 in the U.S. It may be steep but the costs balance out, says Scott Harmon, Z Corp’s vice president of business development. “More important than the purchase price is the operating cost,” Harmon said. The total expense for finished models is $2 to $3 per cubic inch.

The prices are likely to come down over time, and new materials are being used for 3D printing. Shapeways, for instance, added stainless steel in 2009, glass in 2010 and last month, silver to its printers. Moreover, larger manufacturers are coming on board, including Clark’s, the British shoe brand, which this month began using Z Corp’s 3D printers for prototyping.

Harmon says his customers come from a variety of industries, including mechanical design, education, architecture, retail and entertainment. While architects and mechanical designers usually use 3D printing to make prototypes, many of the firms, including Shapeways,Jujups and i.materialise.com, basically act like a Kinko’s for 3D objects — consumers send in their designs and the companies print/manufacture them. For instance, FigurePrints, a Seattle company, makes 3D replicas of Xbox Live avatars and World of Warcraft characters.

Sculpteo, a French firm, offers more options. The company can make a 3D figurine of you or someone else from a picture and also creates custom objects using 3D designs in software programs like sketchup and 3ds. Clement Moreau, CEO and co-founder of Sculpteo, says the price for such objects ranges from $20 to $2,000, depending on the size. “We have two kinds of customers — consumers and professionals, mostly mass-market artists,” he says. Moreau started the company in 2009 in order to make 3D printing available to a wider audience.

Looking to the Future

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3D printing will eventually infiltrate the market, even though Z Corp’s Harmon doesn’t see that happening for a while. Harmon says the evolution is already underway: “What 3D printing will do in the short term is give business owners and consumers new kinds of products that can’t be made using traditional techniques,” he says. “As 3D printing generates scale with these new products, it will become increasingly price- and quality-competitive with traditional manufacturing techniques for a broader array of products.”

Click through the photo gallery below for a look at some of the 3D printers and the objects they’re able to create. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

View As One Page »

Image 1 of 13

View As Slideshow »

Z Printer 650

Z Printer 650

The 3D Printing Process

System Overview

The Printing Cycle

The Build Chamber

Materials

Bit Cross

Color It Wiggle the Dog

iPad Cover

Over the Top Puzzle

iPod Tray

Timekeeper

Companies that operate in a free market generally work as hard as they can to make that market not free.

By creating lock in, monopolies, patent protection, long term contracts, chasms in pricing and other barriers to entry, companies profit out of proportion to their risk or investment. That's their job.

Acting on their own behalf, self-interested companies will almost always work to make the playing field unlevel, to create loopholes and to generate barriers that keep the market unfree. It's what their owners profit from.

Their adversaries? Technological change, enforced transparency and regulation in favor of consumer protection and against monopolies. There's no question that an unfettered authoritarian corporate regime is more efficient and effective–in the short run. In the long run, though, the free market triumphs, as long as it isn't destroyed by those that get to play first.

The free market is a great idea, which is why we need to be careful when market incumbents lobby to make it un-free.