Like any other technological device currently out there, newer 3-D printing machines aim to out-do the competition and take things to the next level. Enter Mebotics LLC, a group of four friends who spent the past year building the Microfactory. Becoming known as "the world's first Machine Shop in a Box", the Microfactory combines additive and subtractive manufacturing into the same machine.

Aside from 3-D printing up to four colors and with multiple materials, the Microfactory can do other tasks like cut wood and precisely mill and etch parts into shapes--even something as intricate as a circuitboard. Its noise-reducing housing and WiFi connectivity also makes it possible for the machine to be operated anywhere, anytime.

Other features include a shop-vac hose enabling the machine to "clean up after itself" as it operates, a full on-board computer, and industry standard built-in software. And to no surprise, the hybrid-manufacturing machine ain't cheap, with preorder prices starting at $3,995.

Last week, Mebotics launched a Kickstarter fund with an ambitious $1 million goal by Sept. 27 to determine public interest and garner support for the final stages of preparing the Microfactory for large-scale production in early 2014.

What are your thoughts on the Microfactory? Share your comments below.

For more details on The Microfactory, check out Kickstarter or this press release on its debut. You can also visit Mebotics' website and Facebook.

All images from the Microfactory Kickstarter.