EBay dips its toes into the 3D-printing pool with an iPhone app that lets users customize accessories.
EBay announced Friday that it is getting into 3D printing with a new iPhone app called eBay Exact that lets users customize jewelry and accessories that will then be 3D printed and sent to them. Functionally, it's not mind-blowing, yet it shows just how far 3D printing has come in the past few years and gives a hint of where it could go next
The app is pretty simple: Once you open it up, you see several items from 3D printing companies MakerBot, Sculpteo and Hot Pop Factory: mostly jewelry and iPhone cases, plus a few other items. You pick an item (I chose the Platonix necklace, available through Hot Pop Factory), and then modify a few features like the pattern, material, shape or color. (Some items can't actually be modified at all.)
Available items are mostly made from plastic and metal. Users pay via eBay-owned payment service PayPal, and the purchase arrives within a week or two.
Since eBay already offers a number of popular and trusted apps, consumers may be more likely to find out about this one than other 3D offerings. They may be more willing to try it, too. Eventually, I could imagine 3D printing becoming a part of eBay's core business, with sellers of accessory products in particular (like smartphone cases) offering a slew of customizable options.
Mashable composite. Images courtesy of eBay
This article originally published at MIT Technology Review here
MIT Technology Review is a Mashable publishing partner that identifies emerging technologies and analyzes their impact for technology and business leaders. This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission.
Source: http://mashable.com/2013/07/12/ebay-3d-print-iphone-app/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss
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