New 3-D Printer Uses Smartphone Screen to Print

It seems like there's a new development every day in the world of 3-D printing. New materials and new processes pop up and change the game. Now, one company is using smartphone integration and a new way to print in a way that's not unlike screen printing.

The Ono 3-D printer is billed as "the first ever smartphone 3-D printer." It was funded on Kickstarter, and goes for sale in April for $99, according to Circa.

Here's how it works:

The user can select a model from Ono's store or somewhere else on the internet, and connect their smartphone to the printer, placing it under the printer case. By using a series of flashes from the phone screen, resin in the printer's tank hardens in the design. It works like how ink passes through the negative space during screen printing, or like how UV light prints on the new, reusable paper.

It also is battery powered and portable.

For promotional products distributors, this could be a high-end gift for companies to give out, as 3-D printing becomes a more common household thing.