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9:12 AMon Wednesday, February 27, 2013
In some ways, Mobile World Congress (MWC) is like a storm, descending on Barcelona each year, bringing thousands of the world’s leading mobile technology experts and brands, to the four day event. From dawn we begin to congregate at the exhibition center, like ants scurrying to be in the nest before the rain hits - only to return to the outside world again at dusk, looking like a wave of zombies, exhausted from the days exciting events. Inside the halls the bright lights show off extravagant displays with the latest model phones and tablets for all to see. There is one booth that stands out as being a little different this year. The feature on this booth is not a phone per say but … a toilet.
At MWC P2i is previewing its very latest technology. Named Dunkable™, this tech provides protection against accidental submergence, offering what is known in the industry as an IPx7 rating. This means the phone can survive being under one meter of water for half an hour. See for yourself in this video as P2i's Chief Technical Officer (the guy who invented the technology) dunks a phone in the loo:
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6:06 AMon Wednesday, February 20, 2013
We all know that smartphones and tablets are becoming an integral part of everyday life – and as a new member of the “I didn’t seem to need one before Christmas, but now Santa bought me a tablet I don’t know how I lived without it” crew, than I must say I have found myself taking it into some strange environments.
I mean, I would never take my precious camera into a steamy kitchen and put it down on a damp, cluttered bench top next to the hazards of a glass of wine, while I stir my pasta. But when you’re in the middle of running through the streets of London escaping the grasp of the underworld bosses in the latest crime thriller novel, than its easy to forget the dangers lurking in your own kitchen.
And if the statistics are to be believed than I am not alone. Apparently in 2011 39% of us were using our phones while going to the bathroom, causing a staggering 19% of us to drop them down the loo. But not to worry, because apparently 14% of us actually wash our phones and our hands when were done!
Well it’s no wonder water damage is one of the leading causes of permanent phone malfunction, and why manufacturers are doing all they can to make sure that their phones last the lifetime of your contract.
At P2i we provide a splash-proof nano-coating protection to Motorola and Alcatel ONE TOUCH phones which lowers the phone's internal and external surface energy. This means any moisture or liquids that come into contact with the phone are repelled away, instead of being drawn into the device. You can see the tech in action on the Motorola XOOM 2 tablet in the video below:
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1:38 AMon Friday, December 21, 2012
Did you know that the song 'We wish you a Merry Christmas' is from 16th Century England and has its origins in English tradition where wealthy people offered treats to carolers on Christmas Eve? Neither did we, till we looked it up but is quite interesting though. With Christmas day only a few sleeps away, we will be closing our office until 2013 but want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! But before we leave you, we have put together a special Christmas message together in the style of our Repellent Files. Hope you enjoy it!
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2:07 AMon Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Has your phone ever been splashed with water or other liquids? If so, the reaction to this is always one of dread, as smartphones are not designed to mix with water in any of its forms.
There are many solutions out there that aim to prevent phones from a watery grave. For example, putting the device in a bowl of rice, but these methods are optimistic at best and in most cases the end result is still not good.
Smartphones have become such an important part of our everyday lives that there are very few scenarios left where phones do not accompany us. In fact, in a recent survey, 19% of people interviewed admitted to having dropped their phones down the toilet!
All is not lost though, as protection from water damage is now available in the form of the Alcatel ONE TOUCH 997 Ultra smartphone.
The 997 Ultra repels water
Understanding the role smartphones play in today's society, Alcatel have teamed up with P2i to offer consumers a completely water repellent phone and reduce the fears they have when phones and liquids meet. To do this, the ONE TOUCH 997 Ultra comes complete with our nano-coating technology which is applied to both the external and internal surfaces, ensuring total protection from water damaging effects. You can see how our coating is applied to smartphones below:
As the coating is incredibly thin (1000 times smaller than a human hair), it does not interfere with the internal electrical conductivity, allowing all components to be treated, leaving no weak points to attract water and cause corrosion. This is great piece of mind should the 997 Ultra come into contact with water.
When launching the onetouch 997 Ultra, Alcatel mobile's theme is 'No Worries' and with the benefits our water repellent nano-coating offers, the concerns over everyday splashes and spills, or being caught in the rain, are becoming a thing of the past.
You can watch the technology in action below in the official Alcatel video and if you would like to know more details about the 997 Ultra, you can here.
Splashes, spills and rain.... No worries with the ONE TOUCH 997 Ultra!
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* The water repellent nano-coating applied by TCL, protects the internal components from water ingress and corrosion damage, caused by accidental splashes and spills. The coating is not a waterproof technology and TCL does not recommend that your phone comes into contact with liquids.
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2:00 AMon Friday, December 14, 2012
2012 has been a busy year here at P2i and with 2013 only a few weeks away, we take a look back at some of our more exciting highlights.
January:
The first month of 2012 saw us attend two very different tradeshows. For the second year in a row, we exhibited at International CES in Las Vegas which was also a milestone for P2i, as we announced that over 8 million consumer electronics devices had been protected from water damage with our nano-coating technology. You can find out more about how we got on at CES here.
In addition, we also attended ISPO in Munich, Germany to promote our ion-mask™ technology to lifestyle brands, where we were delighted to announce that the technology had been applied to over 3 million pairs of shoes.
February:
Did you know that more than half of all mobile phone users expect devices to be water-repellent? In research carried out by P2i, mobile phone users from the UK, France, Germany, Spain and the US also admitted to using their devices in the rain, shower and sauna. Read all about the findings here.
February also saw our return to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona where we were also interviewed by The Fonecast. In preparation for MWC, we also produced a brand new video to explain how our coating is applied to electronic devices. You can watch this video below:
March:
At AudiologyNow2012! we were delighted to be crowned Best of Show for the second year running, an award that was made all the more special as P2i was the first company to win this award in consecutive years. You can see our award and booth here.
Ever wondered what the difference between waterproof and water repellent electronics is? In our post from the 21st March, we look at the differences in more detail.
April:
In April, we attended two tradeshows for the first time, World Filtration Congress in Graz, Austria and NEPCON in Shanghai, China ,as well as featuring on NewsWatch TV hosted by Scott Steinberg.
Finally, we were delighted to announce our partnership with leading headwear brand Kangol, who have applied ion-mask™ to a range of their iconic hats. You can watch our technology in action on Kangol hats below:
May:
Our busiest month so far!
With the London Olympics just around the corner, P2i teamed up with UK Sport to protect equipment and accessories in cycling and sailing, two of Britain's leading sports. We also attended CTIA Wireless in New Orleans, USA and started our series of blogs entitled: A Brief History of Nanotechnology, which charts the early beginnings of nanotechnology through to the present day (you can find the series by searching our blog).
Do you know what happens if you apply our coating to normally water absorbent items? Well in May we created The Repellent Files to find out. You can see all our experiments so far which include Mentos & Diet Coke, sponges and coffee granules on P2i.TV.
To top off an excellent month, we were crowned Most Innovative Company of the Year 2012 by the Best in Biz Awards 2012 EMEA.
July:
While June went by a little more quietly, July was certainly a month to shout about, winning not one but two industry awards! At OutDoor 2012 in Friedrichshafen, Germany our collaboration with Trekmates was recognized as the DRY Mountain Lite Mitt featuring ion-mask™ was awarded the Industry Award in the Accessories category.
And at the same time, the Global Business Excellence (GBE) Awards were being held in London where we were acknowledged by winning the Outstanding New Product/Service award.
August/September:
Both August and September continued where July left off with more awards coming our way. In August, we were again awarded the title of Most Innovative Company in Europe by the International Business Awards (Stevies) and in September we were listed in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 list. The list highlights the top-performing private companies and we came 27th!
October:
How waterproof are consumer electronics? That was the main topic of our blog in October. We also announced our exclusive partnership with Plantronics to protect cutting-edge Bluetooth devices, including the Voyager Legend headset.
November:
Did you catch Richard Hammond's Miracles of Nature on BBC One? If you did, you will have seen that we were featured! In the first episode entitled 'Super Bodies', Richard Hammond explored how nature has inspired human technological developments and how the wings of the Morpho butterfly produce the same water-repellent effect as our technology. The series will be on DVD from next year but images and more information from the show can be seen here.
November also saw the official launch of our partnership with Alcatel Mobile (TCL), where our coating has been applied to Alcatel's flagship model, the ONE TOUCH 997 Ultra. Watch the video below:
Last but not least, it was time to answer another frequently asked question: How small is our coating?
December:
There are exciting projects in the pipeline but you will have to wait to find out what. We also have a host of activity planned for 2013, so watch this space...
If you would like to know more about our technology, visit www.p2i.com or alternatively you can ask us a question in the comment box below.
This week we are demonstrating the benefits of both technologies. In London, on the 4th December we had a stand within the Stuff Zone at Trends Plus 2012. The event which is in its second year, acts as a forum for ideas, creativity and blue-sky thinking and attracts delegates in marketing, advertising as well as new product developments. You can find out more about our presence at Trends Plus here.
Setting up our stand
Demonstrating the repellent properties of our coating at Stuff Zone
Coinciding with Trends Plus is The Running Event taking place in Austin, Texas and is the premier expo for speciality retailers. If you are attending the show, we can be found at booth 1425, where we are demonstrating our ion-mask technology to a wide range of audiences. You can find out more about The Running Event here.
Our Running Event booth
More images from the event will be posted on our Twitter and Facebook accounts and you can keep up to date with what events and tradeshows we attend by visiting www.p2i.com/events
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7:00 AMon Thursday, November 29, 2012
If you have visited p2i.com, seen our collateral or even watched our videos then you will be aware that we refer to our technology as 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Which is pretty small, but exactly how small is small?
In this post we will look at how small nanometres really are, as well as posting some interesting facts.
What is small?
The word nano originates from the Greek word for dwarf, but today, the term nano more commonly refers to anything that is 'incrediblly small' or to be precise - one billionth (10-9) times smaller than a metre.
To put this into perspective the smallest object visible to the naked human eye is a single strand of human hair, anything smaller than that and we need the help of microscopes to see them. And even more sophisticated and expensive microscopes are required before building blocks such as hydrogen atoms become visible. In fact, you would need to line up 10 hydrogen atoms in a row just to equal one nanometre!
Powers of Ten:
To measure size, either large or small, the calculations required to do so are done in powers of ten, as you can see below:
To get our heads around this subject in a more understandable way, in 1997 a video was produced which takes the viewer on a journey of magintudes. Called Powers of Ten, the video is still very influential today. Every 10 seconds the viewing point starts from ten times further away, eventually reaching the edge of the known galaxy. At this point we then return to Earth at the same speed, ending inside one of the smallest objects visible; a carbon atom. It is a great representation of scale in comparasion to our own size as human beings and you can watch it below:
More recently, a modern version of this video has been produced narrated by Morgan Freeman which you can see here:
Some interesting facts:
We have all heard of red blood cells and DNA, but have you ever wondered how small they actually are? Below are some of these objects and their relative size:
Grain of Rice = 1 Millimeter
Red Blood Cell = 5-7 Microns in length (5000 Red blood cells would fit into 1 inch)
DNA = 1 Micron
Common Cold Virus = 0.0001 Micron or 75-100nm wide
Did you know that the average human finger nail grows at around 1 nanometer(nm) per second? And if your were able to strech a meter a distance of 1690 miles (roughly the same distance as Melbourne to Perth in Australia), a nanometre would only be the size of a parecetol or asprin tablet.
So as you can see, when we talk about the nanoscale, we are working in incredibly small dimensions.
P2i's nano-coating technology:
It is amazing to know that so much activity is going on, on scales of size that are sometimes hard to comprehend.
Our coating, which is measured in nanometers is molecularly bonded to products surfaces inside and out, offering superior liquid repellency. As mentioned earlier, the coating is 1000 times thinner than a human hair and invisible to the naked eye, in fact it is so small that it does not change the look or feel of the surface it is applied to.
You can find out more about our technology here as well as seeing how it is applied in the following video:
As always, if you have any questions about nanotechnology or our coating, just ask.
