The announcement that Nokia released design files for the shell of the Lumia820 directly so that 3D printing fans could get personalizing was met with yelps of joy from most of the 3D printing community.
Smartphone covers made real by 3D printing are nothing new, and indeed have become amongst the most visible and pervasive of 3D printed products. However, when Nokia released files direct to the public it was one of the first times we have seen a major OEM (original equipment manufacturer) interact with the community at this level. Certainly we can really imagine Apple being so open with the iPhone...
The team at Makerbot got onto this straight away and ran the files through a Replicator 2 in blue (looks good) and transparent white (looks awesome — I like to be able to see the structure of the print!)
The team seem to be happy with the outcome, though not everyone has been quite so enthusiastic including i.materialise who have busted the myth that it's a simple download and print job. Their excellent blog post highlights some of the shortcomings with the files and consequent prints, including the loss of multi-materials (which just SCREAMS for someone to print out a case using Stratasys' Objet Connex tech) and the loss of wireless charging.
However, if you can see past these limitations you could certainly have some fun with the prints — in fact if you go to http://ideasproject.com you can share your best design idea for the case and could even win a trip ti the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona next month. Get creative!
