A preview for next year's CES technology conference in Las Vegas showed off a new “nanotech” coating for smartphones which lets you dunk it entirely underwater, and it still takes calls.
The CEO of the company HZO, which makes the coating, made a call to the Galaxy S, and it rang underwater.
If it takes off it will be a huge relief to owners of the pricey handsets - 52 per cent of British users who water-damage their handsets by dropping them down the toilet, and up to a million phones are water-damaged every year worldwide.
The coating could spell an end to a huge number of insurance claims.
The technology works by spraying an ultra-thin coat over the exterior and ports of gadgets, preventing water damage.
The coating “seeps” into every crevice, including ports such as the headphone port, protecting individual components.
The touchscreens still work - as do the ports the hi-tech spray is applied to.
“HzO uses a unique coating processes to shield almost anything from water and corrosion damage,” says the company. “Unlike other water damage solutions, with HzO technology a device is not sealed, water is able to enter.”
“Instead, the electronic components inside the device are coated to provide protection, leaving the device unencumbered and always guarded against unexpected accidents.”
Part of the company, Zagg, is to incorporate the HZO coating into iPhones next year, and offer pre-treated phones for sale.