Liquipel is not a new story. I bet you already have heard of it and think of applying it on your phone. The technology was also presented at CES2013 but the MWC brings the news that Liquipel is looking to extend. Before, if you wanted to waterproof your phone through their revolutionary nanotechnology solution, you had to send your phone to their headquarters in Santa Ana, California so that they could put your phone through the necessary procedures.
But now, they are making it possible manufacturers to incorporate their waterproofing in the assembly process, and even for shops around the world to have a Liquidpod Tower and offer customers the ability to waterproof their electronics. This will profit the startup as well as the client. Who would be comfortable with sending their phone, which has all kinds of personal data stored, through the mail to the company (especially if you are not in the US) so that the device can be treated? And besides that, the treatment only takes up to 25 minutes.
The process through which they make your phone waterproof is automated. Once your phone is introduced in their machine, all the air inside it is removed and vapors of their patented nano coating are introduced into the chamber entering every nook and cranny of the phone. After this is accomplished, the next step is a special treatment that will bind the coating to the phone’s surfaces and components. They describe this step as “using technology only available in the natural world on the surface of the sun”.
Liquipel can be applied on 28 devices so far, among these being Samsung’s S II and S III, Motorola Razr and Razr Maxx and Apple’s iPhone series starting from the 3G and its iPad 2nd and 3rd generation.
The level of waterproof depends from device to device. Liquipel has three of levels of protection:
- Level I – Spill & Splatter Protection (like spilling your coffee on it)
- Level II – Slosh & Slip Protection (such as a quick drop in the sink or toilet, or accidental water spills)
- Level III – Drench & Dunk Protection (such as falling into the pool, or torrential rains)
Most devices have a level II or III coat, leaving older or less popular handsets with the basic first level protection.
The company announced the opening of regional offices in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia to streamline the adoption of their technology in manufacturers and retailers around the world.
The technology doesn’t allow you to swim with your phone tied to your arm just so you can use your favorite stopwatch app just yet. The treatment is more to prevent your phone to be ruined by an accident, rather than making it a submarine. Either way, it’s a good step towards making the smart phone – a device that keeps everything about us, from holyday pictures to work papers and credentials – not so pretentions when it comes to the environmental factors.
If you want to learn more about the tech behind Liquipel, here is their presentation video