I read an interesting announcement from Aleph Objects and colorFabb that begs a question about the latter’s strategy. Aleph Objects is, of course, the producers of the very popular line of LulzBot desktop 3D printers. These are very well regarded machines that have proceeded well through a number of increasingly powerful iterations, leading up to today’s flagship model, the TAX 6. colorFabb is a manufacturer of high-quality 3D printer filament in a wide variety of materials. The company has historically been one of the leaders in exploring new types of materials. They often experiment with something new, tune it up and transform it into a popular product. colorFabb is actually…

You know something has gone mainstream when IKEA starts to sell it. And no, I’m not talking about fried onions and cream sauce. Try smart home products. Called Trådfri, the internet-connected smart lighting system is the company’s first foray into the home automation market—which is currently dominated by products including Philips Hue and Nest. At its core, the Trådfri system is connected via Ethernet to a central hub that speaks to all the connected light bulbs in the local Trådfri network. Through the Trådfri remote or smartphone app, a user can adjust or automate the lighting levels across the rooms in their home wirelessly. https://youtu.be/p_Q4Bi8efxE The company has even created…

You know what you do on a rainy day in the Central UK countryside? You sit inside and have a pint. If you’re a massive computer manufacturer, you have a pint and unveil a new workstation. That’s what Lenovo did today at Develop3D Live in Wolverhampton. The ThinkStation P320 is the first PX20 in the P-series family and the entry-level kiddo to the ThinkStation P4XX, P5XX, P7XX, and P9XX. The focus on this refresh is making “Professional Virtual Reality More Accessible” plus providing the power for entry-level 2D and 3D work. How’s all that? Here’s the breakdown. For the ThinkStation P320, you have the option of running a Intel Core i3, i5…

It’s been but a few weeks since the last Onshape update, but once again the Onshape team has locked arms, jumped into the air with a collective shout of “FORM ONSHAPE!” and transformed into a giant robot that opens it chests and delivers another round of new features and updates. You can see the history and catch the latest updates on the Onshape What’s New page, but we’ve had some interest from readers and discussion around keeping closer track of the Onshape features, breaking down the latest, pointing out our favorites and highlighting the ones we think push ahead product dev for CAD in the cloud. As usual, we’ll attempt to pick our ‘Top…

They may have had their heyday in the 1980s, but cassette tapes, like vinyl records, are making a huge comeback in the digital age. While streaming music services such as Apple Music and Spotify have more monthly subscribers than ever before, there is an equally popular need for tangible, physical music, too. And unlike vinyl records, which can take six months to make and cost up to $30 for a single pressing, cassette tapes can be turned around in a matter of days and sell for less than $10. Plus, you can’t strap a record player to the side of your fanny pack quite as easily as a Walkman. Among…