Future Links April 6th

Ebay to start using branded boxes
Online retailer Amazon has shown the value of cardboard boxes for building brand identity in e-commerce. Now, ebay has revealed plans to make use of this marketing tool as well. The company will provide branded boxes to its marketplace retail partners. However, it remains up to the companies if they want to use the ebay boxes or continue to use their own.
More at Fortune

Modular drone lets users 3D print replacement parts
Drone enthusiasts know the feeling of frustration when a part breaks after a crash. The Barcelona-based company Bonadrone wants to help with a modular drone called Mosquito. The drone is basically a modular quadcopter that is made almost entirely from 3D printed parts, except for the motors, batteries and control electronics. If a part breaks of users wish to upgrade the design, they can download and 3D print the files if they own a 3D printer.
More at Digital Trends

MIT 3D printer can print solids and liquids simultaneously
Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a new 3D printing technique known as “Printable Hydraulics”, which takes commercially available photopolymer 3D printers and adds the ability for liquids to be neatly printed at the same time as solids and stored within the solid material as the object is printed. This allows for a variety of new uses including 3D printed robots that could at one day in the future be manufactured in their entirety.
More at International Business Times

Multinational law firm opts for Xerox managed printing services
Hogan Lovells, a leading multinational law firm, co-headquartered in Washington and London, renewed a five-year contract with Xerox for its managed print services. As part of the agreement, Xerox will continue to provide MPS for office and production devices across 13 of the law firm’s offices. Support includes a wide range of services from proactive fleet management, white glove toner replenishment, national print and copy production centers, legal records administration, document scanning/digitization, and computer and conference room setups.
More at Business Wire

Experts look for packaging solutions to minimize food waste
Food packaging experts from Nestlé, University of Guelph and Sealed Air explored packaging solutions that play a role in reducing food waste during a webinar sponsored by PAC FOOD WASTE, an initiative of PAC, the Packaging Consortium. One of the topics discussed was the fact that consumers often focus on the amount of packaging rather on the extended shelf life it often provides.
More at Packaging Digest

Wohlers report details impressive growth for 3D print
It is increasingly clear that the 3D printing industry is exhibiting massive growth. The market research firm Wohlers Associates has now confirmed that with some impressive numbers. According to Wohlers’ latest report, the 3D printing industry has grown by 1 billion USD in 2015 to a total of 5,165 billion USD. This was the second year in a row that the growth rate hit the 1 billion USD mark. The volume of 5 billion USD represents a total growth rage (CAGR) of 25.9 percent in 2015, which is slightly lower than the 33.8 percent CAGR of the past three years, yet still extremely promising.
More at 3ders

New on the drupa blog: A water bottle that leaves no waste behind
Icelandic design student Ari Jonsson has designed a water bottle that is functional in the truest sense of the word. It holds water but as soon as it is empty, it decomposes, leaving only biological matter behind. The bottle is made of agar, a substance derived from algae.
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