Here are some news that called my attention:
– Pixar’s RenderMan is now freely available for non-commercial use; a plugin for Blender will potentially be available, in the meantime one can use RenderMan as a standalone Renderengine by converting files in RIB files: Free Non-Commercial RenderMan
– Unreal Engine 4 is now available for free, software can be used for game development as well as architectural walkthroughs etc.: Unreal Engine 4
– Here’s a free app (iPad only) that wants to introduce users to 3D printing: Tinkerine U
– Until March, 31 you can download iClone 5 Standard, a real-time animation software, by Reallusion for free: iClone 5 Std
– Last but not least there’s a new searchengine for 3d printable models, you can filter for free or purchasable models: STL Finder