From the 1950s to the 1980s, Braun, under the guidance of German industrial design icon Dieter Rams, helmed a ton of firsts for the audio industry. They made the first all-wave receiver, first portable music player, first stackable Hi-Fi system, and the first wall mounded sound system, among many others. Fast forward to 2019 where Braun Audio has announced its return to the industry that helped put it on the map. Taking inspiration from Rams’ previous designs, the new Braun Audio LE speakers retain the classic blocky look of past Braun speakers with a modern 21st-century technology update including—you guessed it, voice control. Much like any smart speaker you see…

Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’re getting things rolling with “Galleon Ship” from the all-new Nick Cave album, Ghosteen, before rolling into a tasty set with tracks from Lou Hayter, Pixies, Beck, Ariel Pink, and others before wrapping up with “Little Dark…

As purveyors of prime Grade A web content, the SolidSmack crew has done some of the heavy-lifting to make sure you get your Mondays started on the right track. Welcome to The Monday List. Every Monday, we link you up with some of the most insightful, informative, and socially-relevant stories to keep tabbed, bookmarked, reading listed, pocketed, or what have you to get your week started on the right foot. Be sure to check in each week for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight from the source of your favorite homegrown ‘Smack. What We’re Reading This Week: Goal-Setting Doesn’t Have To Be Complicated 10 Tips to set better…

While drilling a hole is something every CNC machine user can do easily, programming the locations of several holes takes a bit more time and effort. Instead of going through the arduous process of setting the locations of numerous holes, Autodesk recently shared how to use their new hole recognition software in Fusion 360 to streamline the entire process using a mold core block as an example.: Holes in material don’t always have the same size, shape, or make—so the trick is to create an operation for each section of a hole. Hole recognition allows you to create hole templates in your design, which you can then use to segregate…

Roam Robotics is doing some awesome stuff in San Francisco, California, and here we get an exclusive, inside look! Their first commercial product is a robotic ski exoskeleton which you can try out this upcoming season. Read on to learn more about how it works and see inside Roam’s office. Or, you can watch the video below for the tour plus seeing these things in action: How did Development for these Ski Exoskeletons Begin? If you were thinking it’s kind of a strange leap to decide to create exoskeletons for snowsports as a company’s first endeavor, you’d be right. It turns out the original application for this exoskeleton had nothing…

Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’re getting things rolling with “Right Here” from Tricky before rolling into a tasty Trip Hop-inspired set from Portishead, PJ Harvey, Zero 7, and others before wrapping up with “Colomb” from Nicolas Jaar. Ready? Let’s Rock! Have…