BROOKLYN, N.Y., Feb. 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ever dream of creating your own custom cell phone case? Now you can! MakerBot® and Nokia have partnered to create a free downloadable 3D printing file to allow those interested in 3D printing to custom make their own phone case for the latest Nokia Lumia smartphones – and if you have a MakerBot® Replicator® 2 Desktop 3D Printer, you can print that cell phone case in about an hour.
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Nokia and MakerBot have just launched the Nokia 3D printing community project, or 3D-printing Development Kit (3DK). MakerBot is Nokia's 3D printer partner for this exciting and ongoing endeavor.
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 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."
About MakerBot
Founded in 2009, Brooklyn-based MakerBot has grown to be a global leader in desktop 3D printing. MakerBot had 16 percent market share of all 3D printers (industrial and personal) made from 2009 to the end of 2011. In 2011, MakerBot had 21.6 percent market share. In 2012, MakerBot estimates that it now has a 25 percent market share of the 3D printer market. There are more than 15,000 MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers in use by engineers, designers, researchers, and people who just like to make things. The MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printer has been named Popular Mechanics "Overall Winner" for best 3D printer and was honored as one of Time Magazine's Best Inventions of 2012. In addition, MakerBot was named "Best Emerging Tech" at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, won Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice Award, the Popular Science Product of the Year, and recently was awarded the Fast Company 2012 Innovation by Design Award as well as being named by Fast Company as "One of the World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Consumer Electronics." And MakerBot was recently awarded a TechCrunch Crunchies Award for best hardware start-up. The company has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Wired, The Colbert Report, Fast Company, Engadget, Make: Magazine, Rolling Stone, Time.com, IEEE Spectrum, CNN, Financial Times, NPR, Vogue Italia and many others.
About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia's technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia.
The photo is also available via AP PhotoExpress.
