All phones should be waterproof. Nothing kills a gadget dead faster than a dunk in the toilet or a splash of beer. Cracked, broken displays are annoying, and missing switches impair functionality, but there is usually no coming back from an impromptu swim.
Soon, though, your iPhone might be as H2O-friendly as a duck, with water sliding off its back in much the same way. Zagg, the case company, now makes a nano-scale waterproof coat for phones called HZO.
The idea, unlike the spray-on NeverWet coating we saw last year, is that the components would be treated at the manufacturing stage. It seems to work. A demo video shows a treated phone being dunked like a witch in medieval England.
Not only will it protect an iPod during a cycle in the washing machine, it also lets you stop worrying about sweat when working out, or let you swim whilst listening to music.
For this tech to end up in your phone, Zagg is going to have to sign up manufacturers to use it. But seeing as this is just the kind of cool thing Apple likes to do, hopefully we'll see it sooner rather than later. That, and an aluminum back for the iPhone.
HZO [Zagg via Pocket Lint]
