Keep Your Gadgets From Getting All Moist

Somehow, the gadget gods have blessed my portable technology with the uncanny ability to avoid pools of water, and I have never had a gadget die submersed in the killer stuff (now that I've written that...)

However, I've seen many a friend's cell phone die in such a horrible manner. If you're prone to the same, good news! The British Defence Department and its spin-off company, P2i, have developed a new technology coined "Ion-Mask" that promises to waterproof gadgets, without adding extra bulk, and doing so inexpensively.

How does it work? Lisa Zyga of PhysOrg has the scoop:

Ion-Mask is an invisible coating that is chemically bonded to a device using a plasma (an electrically charged gas). The coating has chemical properties that allow it to repel water and oil - or, in the case of soldiers' uniforms, toxic vapors and liquids. Instead of seeping through the cracks, water simply beads off the surface of the device.

Apparently the technology is able to fend off water even if the device is fully submerged (though I'm sure there's a depth limit, since no amount of chemical/electromagnetic repulsion is going to keep water out of your precious piece of tech if under enough pressure.) If this Ion-Mask technology makes the reportedly 1.2 million cell phones damaged by water in 2006 a thing of the past, this could certainly be a great thing for all of us gadget freaks.

Mobile phone you can use in the shower [The Telegraph]
[via: PhysOrg]