Cuboyo, was estalished at the start of 2013 and is one of many familiar online 3D printing repository / marketplace platforms. The company is now offering a personalization service for iPhone 6 and 6+ smartphone cases. Cuboyo has been providing in-house customization since December 2013, known as Bespoke By Cuboyo. The company already offers a bespoke service for the iPhone 4 / 4s and 5 / 5s alongside the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Cuboyo says: “Created using 3D printing technology, these decorative yet functional cases are a personalized expression of the consumer’s needs leveraging the latest printing innovations. With the support of a sophisticated yet user-friendly interface, each customer is able to create a personalized cell phone case complete with custom text, logos, and colors online. Cuboyo will then manufacture the user’s design specifications to the highest quality Swiss standards and ship it directly to his mailbox.”
The Cuboyo marketplace includes a nifty $1 Shop, which is reasonably well populated with files to 3D print. Relatively well populated would not be the appropriate term, given that Sketchfab now tops the 200,000 file mark with Stratasys owned Thingiverse and GrabCAD topping 100,000 each themselves — Cuboyo offer around 80 files in their $1 shop, most catagories (such as Education or IT & Electronics) offer around 30 files. There are numerous 3D file repositories in this class. Sketchfab and the Stratasys “twins” (when will they merge?) are the exceptions to the rule. Most repositories sit either in the ‘nascent’ class of 0 – 1,000 files or a ‘formative’ class of 1,000 to 10,000.
The quantity of files contained therein is but one variable to measure the success and quality of a 3D file platform. In other terms, Cuboyo is about average: a lucid interface with fairly clear graphics, skirting minimalistic visiaul efficiency but with utility in the form of file display options, such as backgroud surface.
Is it possible to view Bespoke By Cuboyo as a different entity from the main Cuboyo marketplace? Maybe. Where the marketplace is but one of many tens of contemporaries offering essentially the same ingredients with a slightly different recipe and a cake that either has one chocolate button or half a confectionary Bespoke By is – as far as appearances and online examples go – a uniquely preserved Mesoamerican chilli and coco drink discovered by Indiana Jones and Lara Croft in a one-off duet. (My analogies were never too hot…)
That said, Bespoke’s smartphone case service is far from alone now. There are an increasing number of online portals for customizable smartphone cases. Everyone from Orange to Stratasys have adopted this 3D printing application market. But, much like with chocolate, this Swiss sample of case customization is quite exquisite in appearance. If you have had a taste of Cuboyo’s Bespoke service, do let us at 3DPI know by email or the comments section below.
