Tag Archives: iphone

Bespoke by Cuboyo Personalized iPhone Cases with Swiss Quality

3D Printing Platform Cuboyo Launches High Tech Smartphone Cases

We have smartphones, what about “smart” phone cases?

Bespoke by Cuboyo introduces 3D printed personalized smartphone cases.

These decorative and functional cases let users choose a case pattern and color, then add their own custom text, logos, and colors online. The cases are then manufactured using high quality Swiss standards and shipped to the user. Cases cost around $50.

Bespoke by Cuboyo iPhone Cases

Cuboyo is marketing these cases to corporate customers and consumers alike. Bespoke is the newest venture from Cuboyo.com, a 3D printable file sharing platform launched in June 2013.

Cuboyo LLC was created in Switzerland in 2013 by three 3D Printing enthusiasts. They felt that there was not an accessible marketplace for buyers and sellers to exchange 3D printable files to fully realize the revolutionary possibilities of 3D printing.

Learn more at Bespoke by Cuboyo.

MakerBot Launches Thingiverse iPhone App for 3D Printing Community

Desktop 3D Printer Maker Gets into Apps

MakerBot has been non-stop with major announcements this year.  There was the launch of the Replicator 2X at CES, then the release of of the desktop 3D scanner MakerBot Digitizer, and of course the industry-shaking $403 million acquisition by Stratasys.

Link: Full analysis of the MakerBot acquisition by Stratasys

In addition to selling 3D printers and 3D scanners, MakerBot also operates a website called Thingiverse. And today, the Thingiverse team has a big announcement: the launch of the Thingiverse iPhone app.

“[The Thingiverse] iOS app lets you carry Thingiverse in your pocket or purse all the time,” said the Thingiverse team in a blog post. The app lets you browse Thingiverse and check out featured, noteworthy, and popular designs, all on your phone. You can add items to collections or share via email or social networks.

MakerBot Thingiverse iPhone App

You can also upload your own photos of things you’ve 3D printed. ”As the world’s largest 3D printing community, we believe that everyone should be encouraged to create and remix 3D things, no matter their technical expertise or previous experience,” said the Thingiverse team.

You can download the Thingiverse app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch a the App Store.

Here is a photo gallery with screenshots from the app.

 

Related articles:

eBay Breaks into 3D Printing with iPhone App eBay Exact – Our Review

eBay Exact 3D Printing App

eBay Exact is an iPhone App for 3D Printed Goods

Leading auction marketplace eBay is the latest major e-commerce company getting into 3D printing, following the recent news by Amazon, Tesco, and others. eBay launched an iPhone app called eBay Exact that lets users customize and order 3D printed goods.

How eBay Exact Works

eBay has partnered with 3D printing companies and designers, including MakerBot, Sculpteo, and Hot Pop Factory, to source 3D printed goods that can be customized and purchased.

Here’s the description from the eBay Exact product page:

Unleash your creativity by customizing select products to create exactly what you want with eBay Exact. Simply select a product, choose a design, and add your own personal flair to create a unique item for yourself or someone special!

With our first foray into 3D printing technology, we have partnered with Sculpteo, MakerBot, and Hot Pop Factory who are leaders in 3D printing technology to hand-select a range of special products including, iPhone cases, figurines, and jewelry.

Take the power of creation into your own hands and download the app now to start customizing right away.

Bring your style to life. Choose from a variety of materials, including plastics, wood and metals. Use the engraving feature to further customize your product.

Be the first to use new technology to create one-of-a-kind iPhone cases, jewelry, and figurines based on self-portraits.

Build your collection. Whether you love jewelry or figurines, eBay Exact allows you to create as many unique products, exactly as you like, based on your personal desires and preferences.

Reviews

There are just a few reviews so far, but some of them are glowing.

“Really cool app that gives affordable access to 3D Printers. I’d love to see more templates to customize and buy. Opening up to user generated content – a deviantart like community for 3D models would really make this a very addictive app!”

“App is beautiful- first company to do something like this, impressive.”

Below is a gallery that shows how you can discover an item, customize it and preview your design before ordering it.

 

Get the app for iPhone and iPad at iTunes or learn more about eBay Exact at eBay.

3D Printed Lightclip Lets You Signal Batman With Your iPhone and More

3D Printed Lightclip Batman Signal

3D Printed Lightclip Turns Your iPhone into a Batman Signal, or a Ninja Ghost, and More

This is a review of Lightclip, one of the coolest and most elegantly-designed 3D printed products we’ve come across. We also interview the designer.

(For full disclosure, the designers behind Lightclip sent us a complimentary product to try out.)

The Lightclip is a 3D printed accessory for the iPhone that becomes illuminated when you turn on a flashlight app. A variety of designs were created by Lab02 and are available for sale at Shapeways for $12 to $17 each.

Our Impression of Lightclip

The design is quite a step up from what you would normally expect from 3D printing. Instead of rigid ABS plastic, the Lightclips are 3D printed in White Strong and Flexible (Nylon). As Shapeways said in their own review:

This material is very strong (obviously), affordable and an excellent light diffuser. The Lightclip emits a beautiful ambient light, which is evenly distributed and very easy on the eyes. Use it as a nightlight, at a camping trip or when in need of a superhero!

We loved the different types of Lightclips. Included in the Shapeways store are a traditional light bulb, a ghost, a ninja ghost, and a Batman spotlight. Each one fit perfectly to capture all of the light from the iPhone flash; no leakage. See the gallery below for examples.

Fun for kids. Though not a toy, kids were very attracted to the Lightclip, turning the flashlight on and off repeatedly to see the Lightclip glow.

In summary, the Lightclip is really more about fun and fashion than function, but it’s worth the $15 price point as a conversation piece and perhaps a night light on occasion.

Interview with the Designer of Lightclip

We interviewed Dinos Costanti, the designer of Lightclip. The transcript of our interview is below.

On 3D Printing: Tell us about your organization and your history in 3D printing.

Costanti: My name is Dinos Costanti and i’m a software developer and 3D modeler. Vangelis Hadjiloizou is a painter and the ex Creative Director of the largest advertising agency in Cyprus. We started working together as freelance industrial designers in 2011. Right from the beginning we wanted a way to prototype our designs. We had access to a nice CNC machine locally, but we needed something better. That’s how we started using Shapeways and i.materialise.

We were very impressed with the capabilities of the modern 3D printers, especially with the EOS SLS machines. We even used them for a small production run of 110 small mushrooms that we designed as a giveaway for one of our customers. That was the final proof for us that 3D printers can be used for small scale manufacturing.

So we launched Lab02.org as a place to show and promote our personal designs. That is probably the dream of every designer; A way to make and sell the products that no one is willing to fund and manufacture! And as 3D printing becomes more popular, we’d love to feature the designs of other Cypriot designers.

Over the past 3 years we’ve gained a lot from the 3D printing community. And it is thanks to it that we can now afford our own 3D printer. As our way of giving something back we’ve made the Lightclip available under a Creative Commons license.  This way anyone can download, modify, and print his or her own for free!

On 3D Printing: The designs you have made are very intricate and probably more elegant than what most people would expect when they think of 3D printing. Was it difficult to design?

Costanti: Not at all! The Lightclip went from initial idea to sketching, modeling and prototyping in about 10 working days. That included 5 days for Shapeways to print and ship the prototype.

I think that the 3D design software companies are starting to realize the need to address the amateur or rather the non-engineering crowd. We mainly use Moi3D, a NURBS modeler created by Michael Gibson, the original developer of Rhino. This is probably the easiest and friendliest NURBS modeler on the market and a perfect fit for designing for 3D printing.

On 3D Printing: How do you see these types of 3D printed goods growing in adoption?

Costanti: The production of 3D printed goods is going to explode. As more 3D printers are becoming available, prices are being pushed down. And as 3D printing materials become cheaper we are coming to a point, maybe in a year or so, where 3D printing will be a viable and cost effective solution for small scale manufacturing. Especially so for the 100 – 3000 units production runs which, using traditional injection molding, are currently in kind of a “no man’s land”.  That is mainly due to high molding costs which demand a major investment with traditional methods, but are not required at all with 3D printing.

That is going to have a profound impact on the variety and complexity of available products as more and more designers can simply self-publish their products using their own 3D printer or a 3D printing service.

On 3D Printing: How has your experience with Shapeways been?

Costanti: Our experience with Shapeways has been amazing right from the beginning. Their engineers are very knowledgeable and they were instrumental in our quest to master the basics of designing for 3D printing. Also, their printing times are constantly improving. They will usually ship a lot sooner than the date they quote!

There is little doubt in my mind that these 3D printing services are the prototypes for the factories of the future.

On 3D Printing: Any other creative ideas your working on at the moment?

Costanti: We’ve had another very successful product with i.materialise, the Dragonbite grip which was designed for printing in stainless steel. It is currently the feature of a design competition at i.materialise.

We are also working on the initial sketches of our new project, a water pipe, designed to be printed in ceramic. This is the one material we haven’t used so far and we are very excited about it.  I’m sure that it will present its own challenges but it is something we wanted to try for a long time. We hope it will be available in a month or so.

 

Thanks for sharing the Lightclip with us!

Cubify Draw App for iPad and iPhone: 3D Print Your Sketches

Cubify Draw 3D Printing App Cover

3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) launched today Cubify(R) Draw, a mobile 3D printing app for iOS. Cubify Draw empowers anyone with an iPhone(R) , iPad(R) or iPad Mini(TM) device to create printable content with their fingertips. Users can digitally doodle with their finger or trace an imported picture and then enhance it with features like adjustable line thickness and height, auto-fill and auto-connect. Users can upload their drawing directly to Cubify or have the STL file emailed to them for printing. Cubify Draw is available in the App Store today via free download.

“Cubify Draw takes digital doodling to printable reality” said Sarah Stocker, Senior Director of Cubify for 3D Systems, “This boundary breaking app is our latest gamified installment in our commitment to democratize content-to-print entertainment on Cubify.”

Our Review

Cubify Draw is a very simple and straight-forward app. You trace or draw with your finger, and it creates a file for you to print. With this simplicity in mind, 3D Systems shared that “the app is ideal for drawing and printing cookie cutters, pendants, ornaments, bracelets and simple toys.”

We tried out the app and found it very easy to navigate, but hard to create models of any precision. Similar to an Etch-A-Sketch, you have one try to get your lines right or you have to clear the canvas and start over.

We imported the On 3D Printing logo in an attempt to trace the “On”. The results are in the gallery below.

It’s great to see the Cubify team extending into digital and competing with other apps like Autodesk 123D Catch. While this first app feels a bit limited, it’s free and easy to use. So if you have a Cube 3D printer, or want to quickly print a design via Cubify.com, give the app a try!