It was only two weeks ago when LEGO released their extremely detailed “life-like” replica of the iconic Porsche 911 GT3 RS with a 2,704-part build sequence modeled after the real-life vehicle’s assembly process. Although the $299 kit is already out of stock, LEGO wants to settle your woes with yet another impressive automobile kit modeled closely after the real thing. At 1,167 pieces, the original Volkswagen Beetle has been painstakingly recreated as a LEGO® Creator Expert reproduction model with a number of special features and elements – including new brick designs – that help recreate the classic curved design of the iconic 1960s car. Among other features of the model…

For independent designers and engineers wanting to tap into wearables, the headache of both incorporating and managing sensor data can stop an otherwise brilliant idea dead in its tracks. But what if figuring out how to track and measure data through health and motion sensors were, in fact, the last things worth worrying about? More recently, this is the question that a small group of renegade computer engineers at San Francisco-based MbientLab asked themselves. Their answer, a coin-sized $99 development board called MetaHealth, combines heart rate (PPG), galvanic skin response (GSR), and 6-axis motion sensors (ACC + GYRO) into an all-in-one package that enables product developers to easily build and…

Time for another round of apps that cover the spectrum of your beloved mobile device, be it iPhone, Android or Windows! The Weekly App Smack is the best of new or updated design and productivity apps (and maybe a couple of fun ones, too) for the busy design or engineering professional and this week we have a list sure to make you more efficient. Do you have an app suggestion that has made your life easier or changed up your workflow? Let us know in the comments below or send it into tips@www.solidsmack.com. Hit it! Felt Cards “Felt is the highest quality, most personal way to send real, handwritten cards…

Cycling. It’s the ragingly popular/eco-friendly/healthy/cheap way to get around town. I like to ride my bicycle – we all do. But it can be a pain deciding where to store the bike, especially if you live in… yeah, just about any apartment. (I have to pay $60 a year to store mine.) Solutions?

It’s small–a little bigger than a box of matches–has a 120 degree wide-angle, 2-megapixel lens and can be placed anywhere you need another set of eyes. That’s the short list of features that describes Armstart’s WiCAM, which is currently in the pre-order phase after recently completing a successful Kickstarter campaign back in April of this year.

Back in April, the LEGO design team unveiled their latest 2,704–piece LEGO Technic model in the form of a life-like” replica of the iconic Porsche 911 GT3 RS with a build sequence modeled after the real-life vehicle’s assembly process. To keep the LEGO build process as close as possible to the same real-world assembly process of the $175K supercar, the design team even went as far as packaging the bricks into different batches to match certain subassembly processes. The result is an impressive and detailed model with authentically designed aerodynamic bodywork, detailed brake calipers, a working gearbox, a working steering and gear system, detailed seating, functional opening doors and a…