Humans have cast metal parts in basically the same way for thousands of years: by pouring molten metal into a mold, often made of compacted sand and clay.
To make those parts, Magnus Metals borrows elements of sand casting and 3D printing to perform what it calls digital casting.
Magnus Metals plans to sell its machines to customers as well as the proprietary ceramic that’s used to produce the bases.
And unlike 3D printing, which usually requires specific feedstocks, Magnus Metals said its system can use customer specified materials.
The method doesn’t require expensive tooling to create the bases, unlike molds for sand casting, according to the Magnus Metals.
But the company will be the first to support Matter Casting, the video- and audio-beaming feature of the Matter smart home standard, on its smart displays and smart TVs, Amazon announced this morning at CES 2024.
Once Matter casting comes to Amazon’s Prime Video app for Android and iOS, users will be able to cast content to supported Amazon devices — starting with the Echo Show 15 — by tapping the new dedicated Matter Casting button.
Beyond the Echo Show 15, Amazon says that Matter Casting support will arrive on Fire TVs including smart TVs from Panasonic with Fire TV built in, and — on the app side — Plex, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Starz and ZDF later this year.
Tellingly, Google announced this week that its casting tech, Chromecast, will be built into all of LG’s new TVs — but gave no mention of Matter Casting.
The Matter Casting spec — which was developed with major input from Amazon — can accomplish more than casting, in theory.
