There’s nothing worse than dropping your phone in the toilet. Looking at it in a jar of rice for the subsequent hour in abject terror is only foreplay to the unsympathetic providers. At the CTIA wireless conference this week, a lot of the tech advances we’re seeing are superficial and nonsensical. Not HzO, which showed off its incredible waterproofing tech last night in a demonstration last night. Listen up, klutz, this one’s for you and me both.
Drop my phone in the toilet and it won’t break? I can’t wait!
HzO provides a nanotech-engineered coating that protects phones and tablets from serious water damage, and it claims its solution is 100 times thicker than any similar water-resistant coating on the market. While there’s currently no home kit to allow you to “HzO” your own existing appliances, we’re told to keep a lookout for the next generation of new devices (namely, Apple and Samsung phones and tablets).
I decided to take one of its coated devices for a spin, a Samsung Android phone with its back cover removed. Watch the video above, and you’ll see me dunk the phone in water. I made sure to do it myself so there was no trickery involved. While tossing the phone in water, all I could think about was how many times I’ve heard someone say they dropped their phone in a sink, bath tub, or toilet. This could be one heck of a pre-emptive measure.
After dunking the phone without its back cover successfully with no apparent damage, I also thought about the market potential. Eventually, manufacturers like Apple and Samsung could team up with a company like HzO and make all of its phones waterproof or give consumers that option before shipping. Or, a step further, nanotech coating every major smart device could just become a standard feature we come to expect from our gadgets.
But can I take a device with HzO WaterBlock scuba diving?
Editor’s note: We at VentureVillage loved this question on the company’s website, and decided to provide you with the answer. Mainly because we were wondering the same thing, and maybe you are too.
WaterBlock technology is designed for accidental encounters with moisture. While HzO-coated devices can be immersed in water, and many devices we have coated have survived continuous hours under water, the technology is designed to protect against failure in circumstances such as jumping in a pool and forgetting your phone is in your pocket, dropping your iPod in the sink while doing dishes, getting caught in a rain storm, or leaving your smartphone in your pants while they go through the wash. WaterBlock is not designed to be used in deep water, nor is it designed to be used under water all day, every day. It is simply the most effective protection against water ever deployed without cumbersome and unsightly plugs, cases, or seals.
For other gadgets we like, check out:
This article first appeared on VentureBeat, VV’s editorial partner in the Valley.
Comments