One fantastic thing about the Consumer Electronics Show (CES (News - Alert)) is that there's always  a ton of new and exciting developments arriving, and 3D printing won't go wanting for new developments of its own. Particularly looking to make a mark is 3D Systems, who not only is looking to roll out a pair of new printers at the big show but also a major modification to its Cubify website, which will prove much more valuable for its non-commercial users.

3D Systems, at last report, already has quite a bit on its side in terms of industrial 3D printing, so it might be understandable should 3D Systems decide to abandon the consumer market entirely. But that seems to be very much not the case, and 3D Systems seems eager to wrest control of the consumer market from Thingiverse and MakerBot.  The new printers are likely to help on that front; the Cube 3 bringing in better resolutions and an ability to build things under six square inches for a price tag (News - Alert) in the high three figure range to start, and the CubePro set to make items up to roughly the size of a basketball for under $5,000. But what's really looking to win over that valuable consumer market is the modifications made to the Cubify website.

The Cubify site has perked up its emphasis on community just a little bit—which by itself is a welcome point; after all, we're talking about a website where intellectual property can become real property in a matter of minutes, so why on Earth not get together to talk it over?--but there's also some significant modification in the site's layout. More specifically, there's a curated portion that features some of the biggest and best things that can be made in certain fields, for instance, there's a section for fashion, another for items of home decoration, and another for items belonging in a mancave like barware and the like. There are even sections for larger items that can be printed on the major industrial printers that 3D Systems keeps on hand.

That's big news in its own right, but reports suggest the fun doesn't stop here, as a press event is set for later in the week featuring music star will.i.am that will likely show off plenty more developments from 3D Systems for the days to come.

3D printing has a great lot of potential, even if right now it doesn't have a whole lot in terms of execution. Right now, most of the options are either essentially monochromatic or prohibitively expensive. There are some differences, though—the officially licensed “Star Trek” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” figurines look pretty sharp to say the least—and this is showing off where we could be going in terms of technology. A future in which we no longer buy things, but rather buy plans of things and then make said things ourselves is an exciting one, though here, the issue of piracy may well emerge as all those plans suddenly wind up on the 3D printing equivalent of The Pirate Bay.

But as the prices on printers drop, and the available quantity of goods to be printed goes on the rise, it poses a future that's inherently altered from the present we know. Significant possibilities are available here, and so too are significant threats. Only time will tell which side emerges to the fullest, but it should be a sight to see in the meantime.