Kwambio Will Allow You to Repurpose that Old iPhone, Turning it Into a 3D Printed Desk Lamp

Just think for a second how many smartphones are disposed of each and every day. In fact, in a recent report, Gartner estimated that in 2014 there were over 1 billion smartphones sold on the planet, meaning that probably in about 2-5 years, close to 1 billion of these phones will no longer be in use by their original owners. That’s a heck of a lot of wasted components. But what if there was a way to repurpose these outdated gadgets for use within one’s home?

That’s just what one Ukrainian industrial designer named Ivan Zhurba, who has teamed up with 3D printing startup Kwambio, is trying to accomplish.  Zhurba, who clearly has a talent for inventing sleek new gadgets and gizmos, realized that the light mechanisms on most older iPhones are quite bright and certainly could be repurposed once these phones are replaced by their owners with the latest, greatest models. This sparked the creative process which has led to the development of his iPhone desk lamp.

“It’s an elegant, simple arm that holds your iPhone,”Zhurba explained. “While in its nook, the phone can be used as a lamp by turning on the flashlight feature, and since the bottom of the iPhone remains exposed, it can remain plugged into a charging cable and can even pump out some Spotify or iTunes music over Wi-Fi.”

Following Apple’s simplistic design philosophy, Zhurba created a 3D printable shell which houses the smartphone, allowing for a charging cable to be integrated within. The shape and structure of the shell actually allows for amplification of the sound which originates from the speaker of the iPhone. Zhurba has created several different versions of this lamp, one for each of the last two main production runs of the iPhone, the 4, 4S, 5 and 5C, and is said to be working on a new design for the larger iPhone 6 models because the iPhone 7 will be here before we all know it.

Although his designs for these lamps were first revealed late last year, the New York City-based startup, Kwambi has teamed with Zhurba to not only release these designs on their website when they launch next month, but to also allow users to easily customize them via the Kwambio platform. In fact, the Kwambio 3D model platform, which we discussed in detail last year, will feature hundreds of customizable designs, in an effort to make 3D printing as simple and easy as possible.

“We plan the release of Kwambio platform (web service and iOS mobile app) in July 2015. You’ll find 500+ customizable & printable products in 4 categories: fashion, home decor, gadgets & art,” Kate Kolambet, from Kwambio told us in an Email. “If you don’t have a 3D printer at home you can choose an on-demand 3D printing service.”

Let us know next month upon it’s release if you ended up printing this lamp shell out, and what your thoughts were once you hooked that old iPhone up to it. Discuss in the 3D Printed iPhone lamp forum thread on 3DPB.com.