Golden Shellback waterproofs your cell phone

Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:42PM EDT

See Comments (102)

Dropping your cell phone on the street? Not a good feeling. Dropping your cell phone in a giant, filth-ridden puddle in the street? That's the beginning of a bad day.

A new coating and application process developed by the Northeast Maritime Institute makes your cell phone (and other gadgets) resistant to harsh liquid conditions without having to use any exterior casing or other device. The special coating is nearly undetectable and does not interfere with any original functions on the device.

From the website:

Golden Shellback coating has an excellent ability to repel oils, synthetic fluids, hazardous materials, dust, dirt and water based solutions. Low surface tension values, such as water and oils will bead and drain freely from coated surfaces. The process produces a uniform, continuous, near hermetic coating that resists rain and humidity. Electronics casually exposed to water continue to work even after exposure. The coating is readily applied and not generally considered to be removable. Repairs are made using abrasive methods.

Amazing, yes. If you'd like a jaw-dropping video performance, head over to Golden Shellback's website for a video demonstration, and trust me, it really is jaw dropping. (Well, if a fully functioning BlackBerry dunked in a tank of water is considered jaw-dropping for you.)

Pricing and availability are still unknown, but expect to hear more about it very soon.

Golden Shellback - Thanks to Jonny Le for the tip.

Top 5 Posts

Comments on Golden Shellback waterproofs your cell phone

Post a Comment

Join in the discussion. Here you'll see the comments in the order they were posted.

  • 66 Posted by mrs_squier on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'd love to have that on my Motorola! Its an older model but holds up to impacts really well. Its been dropped numerous times and has even fallen off the roof of a moving car without much more than a scratch. If something is reliable I like to keep it as long as possible, hence the reason why I've been driving the same Pontiac since my senior year of high school.

  • 67 Posted by josiemoore5 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    A QUICK TRICK INSTEAD OF SPENDING THE MONEY TO GET A NEW CELL PHONE OR NOT USE CRAZY CHEMICALS: WHEN YOU DROP YOUR CELL IN THE TOILET/PUDDLE/ETC. PUT IT IN A BAG OF DRY, UNCOOKED RICE!!!! THE WATER GETS SOAKED INTO THE RICE AND IT'S SERIOUSLY AMAZING!! THE PHONE COMPANIES DON'T TELL YOU THIS HANDY TRICK BECAUSE THEY WANT TO MAKE THAT MONEY!

  • 68 Posted by livingmylifetothemax on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    I have put a phone through the washer and dryer and it still worked and I know many people who have dropped their phone in the lake with no problems afterwards. You don't need to purchase anything extra to protect your phone from water. Just a couple hours in an oven at 200 degrees to dry it out and its good as new!!!

  • 69 Posted by e_powell76 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    I can honestly say that I have never dropped my phone in any kind of liquid, so I'm guessing that this won't be worth the money for me. Now, does this guy have a coating that will keep my phone from falling apart whenever it hits the ground? Now that would be something worth buying.

  • 70 Posted by bobbijomanley on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    golden shellback ? how is this sold? and where can i buy it?does anyone know? thank you .

  • 71 Posted by mbrasilbutaitis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:12PM EDT Report Abuse

    my husband has dropped his motorola razor and his bluetooth in a bucket of PAINT and both recovered even after that and Wasing in water afterwards (air dry thouroughly before using)! Now that is truly Amazing! I accidentally washed mine in the washer several years ago but it did not recover. Suffice it to say the man has had dumb luck all his life...

  • 72 Posted by nickolas_1991 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:37PM EDT Report Abuse

    or you can just have a phone that is already waterproof, also known as the G'Zone which is sold by Casio through the Verizon carrier.

  • 74 Posted by keithkent1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    If you think this is neat, see the videos in the reference section of www.kisspolymers.com, showing a do-it-yourself water-repellent non-stick protective coating. The coating process described by Golden Shellback is showing old technology based on plasma coating, also known as glow discharge. One of the best companies for doing the glow discharge process is Vapor Tech.

  • 75 Posted by magyric on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:03PM EDT Report Abuse

    Of course its going to have an OUTRAGEOUS price when it is available so that us little people have to keep paying to replace our damaged phones!!!! Typical!!

  • 76 Posted by lcarrasco79 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    thats awsome. I'm going to drop my phone in the pool right now!!!:)

  • 77 Posted by nimirra137 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:39PM EDT Report Abuse

    In 2003 I dropped a Motorola phone into the toilet. I rinsed it off and then took it all a part and let it dry for 6 hours. It worked for another year or two until I got a new phone. The new phone was another Motorola and that one was knocked into a pool 6ft deep. That phone did not recover despite being fished out quickly and dried. This past winter I had a Sanya Katana that randomly stopped working. It hadn't been in water to my knowledge but they opened it up and said there was water damage. No idea how it got that but I had to get a new phone. Here's hoping this phone stays away from all things liquid.

  • 80 Posted by lieve_me_alone on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Wow u can make ur phone waterproof? neat, i might play a trick on my friend for al those years in 3rd Grad, i might ruin her phone, but oh well, she shoulden't have been mean to me! lol!

  • 81 Posted by teri_smoot on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:01PM EDT Report Abuse

    I dropped my LG phone into my pond about a month ago. I was able to retrieve it quickly, took it apart as much as possible, and left it open to dry overnight. It works perfectly fine.

  • 82 Posted by kdbear2006 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    It's called Silica Gel Packets and cost no more then $5. I read an article on iphoneatlas.com about this and all you do is place the cell phone in a zip lock bag with the Silica Gel and it will draw out the moisture from the phone and hopefully make it work again. The web site they mentioned was SilicaGelPackets.com but there is a bunch of others out there selling Silica Gel Packets. Just by google I found a few sites, DryPackaging.com is another one as well. To find the Article about this just go to iphoneatlas.com and look up Wet Phone and you should find it!

  • 83 Posted by kickmydish on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    Could the liquid in the video be some kind of dielectic liquid and we are being fooled?

More Posts: First Prev … 3 4 5 6 Next Last

Post a Comment

Sign In to Post a Comment

My Tech

Please enable your browser's cookies to activate the My Tech column.

Also on Yahoo! Tech

Computers Home Office Wi-Fi & Networking Phones & PDAs Cameras & Camcorders TV & Home Theater Portable Audio
 

Site Map | Tour | Subscribe to Yahoo! Tech

Question and Answer content at Yahoo! Tech is written by Yahoo! users at Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo! does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any Yahoo! Answers content. For more information, read the Full Disclaimer.

Opinions expressed by the Advisors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! receives no compensation from any manufacturer or distributor nor does it compensate any Advisor for the coverage of any product or service in any Advisor's content.