Following the release of the 3D Printing Kit from Nokia, the physical hackers of the world have been getting to grips with the back of the Lumia 820 and manufacturing their own shell. Nokia are keeping the interest high with their '3D Printing Challenge', asking for designs and ideas for a new back shell. The best five will be printed live at Mobile World Congress, and the designers flown out to attend MWC as a prize.

From the website:

Get creative and provide your best ideas through visuals. Who has the most creative design for mobile phones in our community?! The top 5 ideas will be considered for printing at Mobile World Congress on February 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain. The top 5 winning ideators will have an opportunity to qualify for a flight and accommodations to Mobile World Congress to share in the excitement of the event.* The time is now to paint your vision for the future of 3D printing in mobile with the leading world audience.

You will have now through February 15 to get your idea in and have the possibility of being recognized for your inspiration through participation in Mobile World Congress.

Full details can be found at the 3D Printing Challenge page.

Of course the release of the 3DK wasn't just for MWC, it was for the printing community to go and play around with. Nokia's Conversations blog has rounded up some of the early efforts and experiments. I especially love this combination of 820 and Duplo!

More importantly, the 3DK files have been tweaked to run on the Makerbot 3D printer, and are available to download here. This is probably the most accessible printer for the 3D community.

What happens next with the 820 backshell? That's a very interesting question... I can't wait to find out!