Tag Archives: Nokia

3D Printed Phone Cases: UCreate3D Seeks Crowdfunding to Best Nokia

UCreate3D iPhone 4s Case 3D Printing

3D Printed Phone Cases: UCreate3D Takes On Nokia?

Two Dutch entrepreneurs who call themselves “pleasantly insane, incredibly ambitious” are crowdfunding to build a multilingual global platform they call UCreate3D to offer 3D Printed customizable phone cases.

Koen is running the offices in Hong Kong and is responsible for production. Vincent moved to San Francisco to focus on sales and e-commerce! It all started when Koen couldn’t find a nice case for his HTC Sensation. Only one year later they launched this IndieGoGo campaign!

We got a chance to interview these two Dutch 3D printing enthusiasts. Here’s a transcript of our interview.

On 3D Printing: It seems like your inspiration to use 3D printing is about personalization. Can you elaborate?

It is about availability and personalization. How cool is it that you can give your two year old Galaxy SII with a customized case to your parents when you are buying an SIV? Instead of buying a one-fits-all sleeve you can create something they like, they can relate to and make it a personal gift instead of just a phone. And the cool thing is, if they don’t like the design you’ve made, they can create a new switchable panel!

On 3D Printing: Nokia announced a 3D Printing Kit for its Lumia series phone. How are you going beyond what they’re doing?

We’re really happy that a big brand like Nokia understands the importance of 3D Printing and starts experimenting early. What Nokia is doing is for 3D Printing experts, engineers or developers, in other words people who know what they are doing. Designing a case and getting a perfect fit isn’t easy, even for educated industrial designers. It takes a couple of test runs to get a good case. 99.9% of the (mass) market is not interested in doing this. We want to make it simple! People can design their own case or choose one of the pre-selected designs, choose one of the seven colors we’re offering and can expect a perfect case with high quality on their doorstep a couple of days later. This isn’t only for Nokia users, but all smartphone and tablet owners!

3D Printed Phone Cases Indiegogo

On 3D Printing: Who created the design software? What was that experience like?

We´re working with an amazing team of software developers. One of the reasons we are doing crowdfunding is the webshop. We’ve are investing a large part of the $20,000, we’re raising, in the webshop. Vincent has over 7 years experience with E-Commerce and start ups and developed more than 20 webshops in multiple languages. The plan that we have for our webshop is ambitious, but realistic. Realistic if you work with the right people. Our webshop will be very simple, easy to use and our customer service will be amazing. This is the combination for a successful E-Commerce company.

On 3D Printing: Where will you 3D print the actual cases? Will you use an existing 3D printing service or your own production?

Co-Founder Koen Munneke runs our office in Hong Kong and is responsible for production. If you want to be better, you have to think outside of the box. Koen is a 3D Printing expert and knows everyone in the field in Asia. Vincent´s expertise lies in consumer products, so we have combined the best of two worlds. The 3D Printing technique (this needs a verb, not sure what you want to say here) with painting and coating from different markets. Our coating originates from the automobile industry. We’re working with several 3D Printing, paint and coating experts to get the best quality for our products. The 3D Printer that we’re using costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, so we partnered with a manufacturer.

On 3D Printing: How do you plan to market your service?

IndieGoGo is the start. We have been featured on several blogs and websites, so we’re off to a good start. Our first market will be the US & Canada and China. We want to make 3D printing simple and available to everyone. So don’t be surprised to find our services in Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese and Russian in the coming years!

 

Want to fund their campaign? Go to Indiegogo and contribute!

Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: 3Doodler, Chris Dixon, Nokia, Car

3Doodler Kickstarter 3D Printing

A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from February 25 to March 3:

Monday, February 25

Tuesday, February 26

Nokia and MakerBot Showcase 3D Printing at Mobile World Congress

Nokia MakerBot 3D Printing MWC

Over 60,000 attendees flocked the Mobile World Congress 2013 conference as it kicked off today in Barcelona. All of the major handset manufacturers, TV suppliers, and mobile operators were there with large booths. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop introduced a new line of mobile phones during his keynote, and there was quite a crowd at the Nokia invite-only booth in Hall 8.

Well, we were there too. And so was 3D printer pioneer MakerBot with several MakerBot Replicator 2s on display.

Nokia MakerBot 3D Printing MWC

In January, Nokia announced a 3D printing development kit, or 3DK, encouraging people to hack their Lumia phone to create their own custom cases.

Today, Nokia showcased their new partnership with MakerBot on a 3D printing community project.

The 3D Printing Development Kit provides a 3D template and case specs for printing shell covers for two of Nokia’s latest smartphones – the Nokia Lumia 820 and the newly announced Nokia Lumia 520. Using the 3DK anyone with a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer can print their own shell. Nokia and Makerbot are demonstrating the exciting possibilities for 3D printing at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 25-28.

“Nokia provided the Lumia 820 specs, and MakerBot optimized them for printing the case on a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer. It’s a really cool shell that fits great,” noted Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot. ”You can print in Nokia PLA blue, translucent white, or in any of the other numerous PLA colors. The design has a cool imprint and an oversized Nokia logo on the back.” The Nokia Lumia 3D printing files are available on MakerBot’s Thingiverse.com and will also be optimized for customization through the MakerBot Thingiverse Customizer.

Nokia MakerBot MWC 3D Printing

Nokia is the first major phone company to release 3D templates for its hardware that can be printed on a 3D printer. It not only allows Nokia Lumia owners to personalize their phones, but brings Nokia into a whole new spectrum of innovation in the mobile phone category.

“Nokia’s design DNA is all about self-expression so getting involved in this community project is a natural extension of that philosophy,” said John Kneeland, a Nokia Community & Developer Marketing Manager. “3D printing is in an exciting development phase and we’re keen to help people explore this new technology.”

Mobile World Congress 3D Printing

 

Top 10 Countdown: Most Popular 3D Printing Stories in January 2013

CES 3D Printing 2013

Here are the top 10 most popular stories On 3D Printing brought you in January 2013.

10. Nokia’s 3D Printing Kit Lets Customers to Personalize Lumia Phone

9. Video: Stephen Colbert 3D Printed Bust at MakerBot Thingiverse

8. National Gun Control Debate Threatens 3D Printing With Regulation

7. Filabot Reclaimer Turns Recyclable Plastic into 3D Printing Material

6. Our Detailed Guide to CES 2013: Welcome to the Year of 3D Printing!

5. Fashion Week and 3D Printing: Stratasys and Shapeways Hit the Runway

4. RoBo 3D Printer Raises $500K on Kickstarter to Battle MakerBot

3. 3D Printing at CES 2013 Roundup: MakerBot, Stratasys and More

2. 3D Printing Advances Dentistry in London at Daewood & Tanner Practice

1. 3D Printing Company ExOne to Raise $75 Million in IPO on NASDAQ

 

Thanks for reading in January!

Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Filabot, Guns, CES, Nokia 3DK

Crayon Creatures Process

A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from January 5 to January 20.

Saturday, January 5

Monday, January 7

Sunday, January 13

Monday, January 14

Stephen Colbert 3D Printed Bust

Friday, January 18