Starting today we're partnering with Ultimaker to expand Bhold Labs to allow anyone around the world with a 3D printer to print prototypes of our next product at home and send in feedback that will directly influence the final product design.

Bhold is the first to introduce the concept of "beta testing" for physical products to create better design, an entirely new way to use 3D printing, and I'm excited to be the first to announce this next phase with Ultimaker and their community.

Ultimaker's advanced hardware and open source philosophy has led them to have one of the strongest, most supportive communities in the maker movement. I believe that our collaboration will allow Bhold to take our product design to the next level through thoughtful feedback from this community. At the same time, 3D printer owners of all levels now have a new, inventive way to experiment with their machines.

Matthijs De Deugd from the Ultimaker team says, "We think this is an excellent way for our community to interact with the latest 3D printing technology and our machines, to see a new crowdsourced product come to life through their feedback."

All prototypes will be uploaded to Ultimaker's community at YouMagine.com starting in October, with an expected final release in December 2014. To apply to be a Labs tester, submit your name and a blurb telling us more about you here!

Update 1/9/15: Final release is delayed to March 2015 due to changes required.