File this one under the ‘it’s about freakin time’ category. The crew at the Defence Science and Technology Labs in England were working to develop a compound that would protect soldiers’ uniforms during chemical warfare when they realized it would probably have other uses, as well. They ended up with Ion-Mask, and setup a company, P2i, to manufacture and market the stuff.
Ion-Mask is a chemical compound that invisibly bonds to a surface, protecting it from water and dust using plasma. The cool thing about Ion-Mask is that it can be applied to the exterior of a cellphone, but also to the internals, to really protect against moisture seeping in and damaging stuff.
They’re already in talks with 3 major cellphone manufacturers, apparently, and I’m sure that others aren’t far off. This wouldn’t make it possible to go scuba diving with your handset (not that you’d want to) but would make it much more likely to last through a quick dip in the toilet or an accidental dunk in your drinking cup.
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