• Desktop Factory's equipment, people and prototypes have all been moved to 3D Systems' labs in Valencia, California.
• A "technical assessment" of Desktop Factory's prototypes is underway and is expected to take "a few months" to complete. We anticipate seeing announcements of some kind at that point.
• Cathy Lewis has become 3D Systems's head of global marketing.

So we'll have to wait a bit longer to see if the vision of commercially available sub USD$5,000 3D printers will come to pass. Clearly it will at some point, but we believed that Desktop Factory would get it done a lot faster.

One more thing: 3D Systems is actually offering a 3D Printer for USD$4,995 right now! Actually, it's a model they no longer manufacture, and thus are simply clearing out existing stock. However, the price may be right for some buyers. It's an InVision LD 3D Printer on sale at 50% off MSRP. Check the details at the link below.

Via 3D Systems

… announced today that it acquired the assets of Acu-Cast Technologies, a leading provider of rapid prototyping and manufacturing services that offers precision parts made on a wide range of traditional and additive manufacturing systems and a variety of finishing, molding and casting capabilities.

Concurrently, 3D Systems announced the launch of 3Dproparts™, the world’s largest Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing parts service. The company expects its 3Dproparts™ service to bring together the widest range of production and additive grade materials and the latest additive and traditional manufacturing systems to enable 3D Systems to deliver to its customers the broadest available range of precision plastic and metal parts and assemblies.

Recently they've undergone severe financial issues that brought the company near to collapse. In fact, according to their most recent news release:

As we drew closer to our last 30 days of cash we turned to our 'end of the road' strategy, the sale of the business or, at a minimum, the sale of our intellectual property. And make no mistake about it we did view this as our worst case scenario; the end, a complete loss for us, for the product and for you, our supportive and valued customers.

Sounds bad, indeed! However...

But a funny thing happened as we launched our effort to sell Desktop Factory. We found interested parties who do understand the exciting potential for this breakthrough technology. We found companies that value the industry and can visualize the myriad applications for this affordable printer. Most important, we have found organizations that engage with customers and truly want to be a part of this next major wave in additive fabrication.

And, along the way we have found the best opportunity to place the assets, the intellectual property and many of our people with a leadership brand; a company with the resources and the desire to deliver on the promise of a truly low cost, easy to use 3D printer. We are cautiously optimistic that we can successfully conclude this sale of Desktop Factory within the next 30 days.

Somebody's buying Desktop Factory, but we don't know who! Here's some possibilities:

• An existing 3D printing competitor that wants to use Desktop Factory's technology to extend their product reach into the low-end zone
• An existing 3D printing competitor that wishes to bury the technology before others can get it
• A third party not currently in the 3D printing space that wants to enter the market

We'd like to hope the buyer is a company with a long-term vision for 3D printing with the financial and corporate clout to make it really happen. Whichever way it goes, we wish those at Desktop Factory all the best!

Via DesktopFactory (hat tip to Brad Walker)

• Commercial units, such as the Desktop Factory and MCOR printers.
• Open Source hardware solutions such as RepRap, Fab@Home and the recently announced MakerBot

Desktop Factory's most recent status update has some rather dire news: they've reduced their spending to overcome a cash crunch. Specifically, they've postponed the long-awaited beta release of their sub-USD$5,000 3D printer until they can sort out the cash flow woes.

Desktop Factory has had difficulties over the past year, and that's something one would expect in a ground-breaking expedition such as they have undertaken. But they've come through the technical issues and now require one million USD$ to proceed.

They've already secured USD$2M, and need one more million to begin the beta program. However, their existing venture capital investor has an operating rule that they will not release their funds until all funds are secured. Thus, Desktop Factory cannot access the USD$2M and have to cut back right now.

We hope Desktop Factory can find an investor and get back on track, and perhaps that investor might even be a Fabbaloo reader? If you have an interest, we are quite certain that Desktop Factory would like to speak with you. You can contact them here.

Via Desktop Factory

Desktop Factory is a startup company seeking to build a usable 3D printer at a cost of less than USD$5,000. Their device is still under development, but we've seen some tantalizing evidence that they are getting closer to a release date, touted to be in 2009.

They've recently issued a status update, as they usually do in very transparent fashion. Here's the highlights we observed:

• "the new imaging subsystem performing better than our prior solution"
• "our team is resilient and committed to placing a few 3D printers very early in the year to conclude our customer acceptance testing"
• They've developed a standard "diagnostic part", like a 2D printer's test page, that can be used to determine problems with the printers
• They've been able to print challenging 3D designs that they've been unable to do previously. Pictures here, in the Gallery.
• Their final focus is "reliability", implying that the features and functions of the device are now stabilized
• Reliability problems remain with "bulb life and brush cleaning"
• Customer acceptance testing commences in January 2009!

Via Desktop Factory