Ultimaker 2 official: Cura customizable software and YouMagine tie-in

This week the team at Ultimaker have revealed their next-generation solution in the Ultimaker 2, a 3D printer that builds on the success of their first model. This second version works with Cura, a new software native to this machine – customizable and much, much faster than the average backend for processing. This machine is also launching alongside YouMagine, an online community for 3D printing sharing and editing collaboratively.

What you'll find with YouMagine is a system that is, Ultimaker says, similar to Google Docs. They say that you'll be able to share native files, edit existing files from the web, or create new ones on the fly. You'll be able to upload files, download and save them to an SD file, and "print and see the results within five minutes." Ultimaker is trying to jump-start this community with a collection of open-source design apps that users new to this environment will be able to use without and previous programming experience or abilities.

The device at hand – Ultimaker 2 – comes in with a body size of 35.8 x 33.8 x 38.8cm and a printing envelope sized in at 22.5 x 22.5 x 20.5cm. With a price of €1895, you'll expect to be able to do a whole lot with this machine – and you'll find that you will, indeed, be able to knock out prints from several angles. You'll be able to print on multiple materials, connect with wi-fi, and do it all relatively quietly.

Ultimaker 2 produces 49 decibels of sound – that's "three times a whisper", says Ultimaker – certainly quiet enough to run comfortably in a home or professional workspace easily. This machine's "Cura" software is able to pre-process 3D files "60 times faster than the typical slicing engines". This is fast enough to be able to send the file to the machine and process it faster than you're able to get to it and press print. Cura also includes a "draft" option for extra-quick prototyping.

This Ultimaker 2 3D printer will be appearing at NewLab and Maker Faire in the very near future. Like the first Ultimaker, this unit is fully open source, and you'll be moving at 30-300mm/s with quality up to 20 microns (0.02mm) – hows that for sharp?