Remember waterproof disposable cameras ? For a few Pearl Buck , you could buy a disposable tv camera encased in a plastic trunk , suited forunderwater photography . Whether you were sin around in a swim puddle or snorkeling in Hawaii , those pliant cases kept your motion-picture show and camera technology safe from the water . advanced engineering deals with the idea of waterproofing a bit other than . For starters , it ’s invisible .
One of the hottest technologies on showing at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show was waterproof nanocoating . Several party demonstrated technology that wait like illusion : They dip iPhones in body of water storage tank , full submerging them and then pull them back out no bad for wear . The phone still wreak !
The arcanum lies in a pee - repelling cloth that bond with a whole object , be it asmartphoneor a Kleenex – it ’s slight enough to leave complex electronics perfectly functional , but thick enough to shrug off grave liquidness . Let ’s take a look at how nano waterproof works – and see if it ’s really up to the task of hold your smartphone dependable during a rainstorm or snorkeling trip .
The Basics of Waterproof Nanocoating
For $ 60 , a company call Liquipel will take your smartphone , place it in a void and pump a vapour into the bedroom . The vapor deposition unconscious process spreads a lean motion-picture show over and inside the machine , coating the sensitive electronics with a material design to deflect piddle – what this material is made of remains a secret . Another nanocoating Almighty , P2i , perplex a piffling more scientific with the explanation : " P2i ’s patented technology employs a special pulsed ionise gas ( plasma ) , which is created within a emptiness chamber , to attach a nanometre - thin polymer layer over the total aerofoil of a mathematical product . When liquids do into striking with it , they mould beads and simply campaign off " [ source : P2i ] .
Before coat electronics with their stuff , P2i used it to waterproof outdoor equipment like gloves and hike boots . Another ship’s company , HZO , is also protect electronics with a waterproof nanocoating . But are these thin films really " waterproof ? " Yes and no . These nanocoatings are designed to save gimmick from abbreviated exposure , not minute or hours spent underwater .
HZO write that " many devices we have coated have make it uninterrupted hours under piss , " but all three company make it clear you should n’t go swimming with your phone [ souce : HZO ] . They can revolt urine , and foreclose element from being damage by water , but you should still turn your phone off if it gets pixilated and give it time to all dry off before using it .
How to Waterproof Your Phone
Still think this nanocoating applied science sounds totally awful ? Well , it is ! Sure , it ’s not quite as good as a bulky plastic case , but it ’s inconspicuous , and could preserve your phone from a unsafe drop into the sink or a rain puddle . Ready to give your phone the protective discussion ? Here come some bad news program : Only a select number of phones are currently treatable .
Liquipel is the only company that actually leave you to institutionalise your headphone in to be coated – HZO and P2i are working with electronics companies to make their coating a received component of shipped models . As of mid-2012 , Liquipel supportsiPhones , iPads , and the iPhone shuffle , a few earphone from HTC , a few phones from Samsung , and a few phones from Motorola . Unfortunately , if you do n’t have one of those phones , you ca n’t order the mail - in coating service .
P2i has worked with Motorola to offer water protection in its Droid Razr and Xoom 2 pad . There ’s nothing holding these companies back from expanding their applied science to other equipment , aside from the complicated business of strike up deals with the likes of Samsung and HTC , who produce gazillion of Android phone every year . 2012 is just the beginning .
I in reality understand these nanocoating technologies in legal action at CES 2012 and was really , really impressed . It ’s one affair to see an iPhone submerge in weewee – that ’s crazy ! But it ’s even crazier to see a Kleenex wholly submerged and then removed completely dry . That ’s how you lie with this is the existent deal . I just hope all the major electronics companies get on board and take up making this a mainstream feature for smartphones .
