Nokia lets Lumia 820 owners 3D print their own case
The birth of BYOP?
Nokia has posted the templates 3D printer users need to make their own shell or case for its Lumia 820 smartphone.
The mobe is already designed to swap some of its plastic parts, with the rear plate available as inert plastic or one of Nokia's inductive charging gadgets.
Three different batches of files are offered to DIY mobe-case makers.
Nokia says the decision to release the files is motivated by its belief that “a rich, vibrant ecosystem isn’t just a matter of apps and services; it’s also hardware—physical things that enhance and personalize your experience with your phone.”
Dozens of Chinese factories figured out the same thing quite a while ago, and 3D printers still sell in low volumes and require expensive “media” that make a DIY case or shell rather more work and expense than can be had with off-the-shelf alternatives.
3D printer owners would almost certainly respond that the fun of rolling their own outweighs any savings. Given the Lumia sales aren't setting the world on fire, Nokia's motivation for releasing the printing plans could be similar. ®
COMMENTS
Re: I suppose
@ Eadon - No. You have rejected Windows Phone and you insist on applying your viewpoint to everybody. The fact that you insult anyone who has a Windows Phone ("who wants to be a saddo that has windows on his phone?") is proof of this.
The fact is that Windows Phone (not Windows Mobile) is just over two years old. Two years after its unveiling, Android had only approximately a 3% market share - and this is with a practically empty playing field (since Apple operate by their own rules), as opposed to facing a well-established, popular competitor.
This article is about a neat little idea that a handset manufacturer has had for their devices, and the manufacturer/device combination happens to support Windows Phone, so you felt compelled to rant about your views on Windows Phone and how it is inferior to said well-established competitor that you favour.
That, sir, is the behaviour of a shill.
Re: I'm sure the handfull of real Windows Phone users are delighted
a) Nokia, not Microsoft.
b) Shut up Barry.
Re: Nokia - another Microsoft victim
@Eadon - By your logic Red Hat should just give up and become a Windows reseller.
Do try to think your arguments through before vomiting them onto your keyboard.
A monoculture is bad on desktop, servers or mobile devices, there is room in each market for a competitor, I would say that each market actually needs a competitor. Where is the incentive for Google to innovate in Android, if they don't have any competition?
Re: I suppose
@I was enjoying the veering off into right wing conspiracies more, Eadon.
No-one gives a flying kack about open software in mobile, excepting a very small amount of hardcore geeks. Even our most strident FOSS advocates at work, who all own Android and swear by it, don't care at all about the fact that it's open.
Some people like the UI, some don't. One of my neighbour's kids the other day (she's 13) turned her nose up at it, said she'd heard it was really hard to use, then found games and started playing pretty much instantly.
Also: Who wants to be the sort of saddo that is defined by the OS of their phone. It's a phone.
Re: I suppose
Eadon, this is thread about 3D printing... why the hell are you putting out your tired views about OSs here? It is the wrong thread, and the wrong website since everyone here has enough experience of their own not to be swayed by your simplistic rhetoric. You are getting very tedious. Instead of writing as many posts, consider writing better quality ones.
3D printing... oh yeah, Linux .... it's hardly the platform of choice for 3D modelling, is it? Sod off.
