Nokia is here to show that the maker community isn't alone in its love for 3D printing. The mobile phone maker has released a 3D-printing Development Kit, cutely named 3DK for short, that gives people the files and information they need to print a custom Lumia 820 back case.
The company is essentially making it possible for its users to tailor their phone to their tastes, an unusual move in a space where companies exert tight control over their technologies and design innovations. Nokia is, according to Nokia, the first major phone company to do this.
It released the files for the Lumia 820 back shell on Friday. They can be found on the company's developer site here, here and here.
It could be a risky move making so key a part of its design completely open. But it's also incredibly smart, considering the direction 3D printing technologies are moving. As 3D printing becomes more affordable, people will start to print their own pieces for gadgets, either to customize them or to fix them. We've already seen it done. For Nokia to actually embrace and herald in this type of creation process will only benefit the company's products.
While Nokia has just started off by releasing files for a simple phone shell, the company plans to embrace 3D printing technologies going forward.
"In the future, I envision wildly more modular and customizable phones," Nokia Community & Developer Marketing Manager John Kneeland wrote in a blog post. "Perhaps in addition to our own beautifully-designed phones, we could sell some kind of phone template, and entrepreneurs the world over could build a local business on building phones precisely tailored to the needs of his or her local community. You want a waterproof, glow-in-the-dark phone with a bottle-opener and a solar charger? Someone can build it for you—or you can print it yourself! "
