Welcome to our blog, where you can keep up-to-date with the latest P2i news and developments. We will post articles regarding news, events we attend, speaker presentations as well as explaining the nanotechnology industry.
About this time last year our booth was crowned the Best of Show at AudiologyNOW! 2011 and we are back exhibiting at this year's show which takes place in Boston from the 29th-31st March 2012.
Our fingers are crossed, hoping to win the Best of Show award again but our real aim at AudiologyNOW! 2012 is to promote and demonstrate our Aridion™ technology. Since the 2011 show, Aridion™ is now applied to approximately 60% of hearing aids worldwide, protecting them against water and corrosion damage which can occur where moisture, sweat and cerumen builds up.
These types of environments can all be found within and around the ear and are a significant factor in causing hearing aids to malfuction. Aridion™ signfincantly reduces the damage caused by liquid and moisture resulting in longer lasting devices and reduced return rates.
AudiologyNOW! is the world's largest gathering of audiologists and we are looking forward to once again showcasing how Aridion™ can revolutionize the performance of hearing aids for manufacturers and consumers.
Below are some images from last years show:
CEO, Carl Francis and Natasha Verniquet with the Best of Show Award
Capture of the P2i booth from the foyer
We will be tweeting from the show and you can follow us on Twitter here.
On the back of the International CES and Mobile World Congress (MWC) tradeshows there has been an increased amount of discussion, and at times confusion on the difference between waterproof and water repellent electronics. In this post, we will shed more light and understanding on the subject, but before we begin, here is how each is defined:
Waterproof: Impervious to water
Water Repellent: Treated with a finish that is resistant but not impervious to penetration by water
Put simply, waterproof requires a physical barrier altering the device, water repellent does not change appearance and can be applied to any device.
How do electronics become waterproof?
The term waterproof is itself confusing as there are varying scales of 'waterproofness' that can be measured to determine how well electronics perform in and around water. This scale is known as the Ingress Protection Rating (IPX) and is based on a scale of 0-8 where 0 means it has no protection and 8 means it can handle continuous immersion in water. For example, an electronic device that has an IPX7 rating is protected against water submersion to a depth of 1m for no longer than 30mins. The level of water protection a device is capable of is usually highlighted by the manufacturer either on the device or in the manual.
For a smartphone to pass IPX6 and above, the devices physical appearance is normally compromized and this can be seen through the development of ruggedized handsets that feature protective rubber and plastic casings, as below:
Sonim XP3 waterproof phone
Fast forward to today and what was clear from the coverage at CES and MWC is that there is a strong desire for devices to be able to withstand water or other liquids. But unlike the above, the devices that are now appearing and claiming to be waterproof are not basic phones but instead are the latest smartphones on the market. What's more, these devices do not appear to have a protective case at all.
How are these new devices waterproof?
Well the answer is quite simple, gaskets and O-rings. Before water can reach the valuable internal components where all our data is stored there are barriers in place in the forms of gaskets and O-rings. For quick reference a gasket is a mechanical seal which fills the space between two or more surfaces to prevent leaking while an O-ring is designed to be compressed between two parts creating a seal. While both these barriers stop water from penetrating inside the device they can still alter physical aspects of the device making them bulky as well as expensive to produce and purchase.
There is also another problem, these seals can be comprised by general use and over time the parts can move or be damaged should the device be dropped. If just one of these barriers were to break, water would then be able seep inside towards the circuit board and internal components, resulting in device failure and loss of data as the inside becomes exposed to water.
Why repellency over waterproof?
Firstly, we need to be clear what repellent means when talking about electronics and how it differs from waterproof. That is where Aridion™ comes in.
The key difference is that electronics treated with Aridion™ will still allow water to get inside. Does that mean the end of the devices life? Not necessarily, as Aridion™ molecularly bonds to both the inside and outside of the entire device ensuring that each and every exposed surface is coated. This means that any water that does come into contact will move away from the surface rather than sticking to the device and if water does get inside, the internal components are also treated, producing the same effect.
This type of protection allows the device to be created without having to compensate for a protective casing, gaskets or O-rings. What is important to remember however is that even though the water is repelled, the coating does not make the device waterproof as it is not designed to withstand submersion.
You can get a better idea of how the coating is applied and works in this video:
Aridion™ provides water protection by removing the buildup of corrosion. Corrosion occurs not just when a phone is submerged but in high humidity and moisture environments such as saunas, in the bathroom when having a shower or traveling through different temperatures. All these factors can lead to internal moisture buildup which over time can corrode the circuits. Aridion™ protects against this as it stops the water/moisture from sticking to and in between the components which would result in electrochemical migration. Electrochemical migration is the movement of metal ions between conductors and if this happens the device short circuits.
So what is the difference?
In the simplest terms, for a device to be waterproof it has to either be completely sealed and ruggedized (making them bulky) or alternatively it must have barriers in place which stops water from penetrating through. The disadvantage with that being these seals can break resulting in the device becoming susceptible to water and corrosion damage.
Water repellent does not mean waterproof but it does mean protection from splashes, spills, corrosion and water damage brought on by the scenarios mentioned earlier (humidty and moisture) as well as those 'caught out in the rain' moments we have all experianced.
If you would like to know more about Aridion™ technology and the benefits it offers you can here.
The following video which was filmed at MWC with our CTO Dr. Stephen Coulson visibly demonstrates the benefits that Aridion™ offers to electronics devices:
Aridion™ is applied during the manufacturing process and is already applied to over 9 million devices including the Motorola RAZR and XOOM 2.
Having attended Mobile World Congress (MWC) for the first time last year we returned to Barcelona bigger and better.
Our booth at MWC 2012
With such a great show in 2011 we hoped that this year would bring similar results and we were not wrong, in fact the the buzz and coverage we recieved surpassed all our expectations.
Before MWC officially kicked off we attended ShowStoppers, a media only event that allowed us to demonstrate our Aridion™ technology to media and journalists from around the world as well as answering any questions they had. Over the course of the day we were interviewed by leading technology sites including Mashable and BBC Technology.
MWC which ran from the 27th February to the 1st March, the pattern continued as we carried out almost hourly interviews and demonstrations and you can see a collection of these interviews and videos by liking our Facebook page and clicking the links. We were also the topic of conversation for many podcast sites and you can listen to The Fonecast interview with our CTO, Dr. Stephen Coulson here and clicking on the Electronics tab.
In addition to this, MWC was also the venue to announce the winner of the Smart UK Project award. The Project was set up to find Britain's most innovative mobile company and despite not winning the award we were delighted to be a finalist from 79 initial company entries. You can watch the summary of the Smart UK Project awards here.
The show was a great success and you can see some of the images from our booth below:
Hannibal our magician performs to the crowd
The team
If you have any questions about our Aridion technology and how it protects your electronics from water damage, you can email us at info@p2i.com.
After a very successful International CES our focus now turns to showcasing our ion-mask™ technology at the 2012 ISPO tradeshow in Munich, Germany.
ISPO which takes place from the 29th January - 1st February is considered the leading international sports business network with around 2,000 exhibitors and over 60,000 delegates from more than 100 countries.
Last July we attended a similar show; the EU OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen where we demonstrated the game changing benefits that ion-mask™ can offer to footwear, textiles and accessories and you can see how we got on in the video below:
Come and see the technology for yourself!
At ISPO 2012 we will be located in Hall B6, Booth 122 where we will again be highlighting our world leading ion-mask™ technology via videos and hands-on demonstrations of treated and untreated footwear, tissues and fabrics.
ion-mask™ has already been adopted by leading lifestyle brands including: Timberland, KSwiss, Hi-Tec, adidas, Van Dal, Scott, Teva, Fox gloves and Bollman Hats to name a few. Attending ISPO is an opportunity to further expand the range of products that ion-mask™ protects. You can see a collection of videos featuring ion-mask™here.
Throughout the show we will be uploading images and posting comments live from the booth so do 'Like' us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to be kept up to date.
In January last year we attended International CES in Las Vegas where we showcased Aridion™, our liquid repellent technology for consumer electronic devices and you can read how we got on here.
For 2012 we went back to CES with an even bigger booth and a major electronic manufacturer incorporating Aridion™ into their production process.
International CES, which took place from the 10th-13th January is the world's largest tradeshow for consumer electronics as well as a showcase for the latest technologies. The 2012 event was the largest in it's 44 year history with over 153,000 attendees and more than 3,100 exhibitors gathering to see the latest technological developments.
Throughout the four days our booth maintained a continous flow of delegates keen to see a demonstration of Aridion™ technology as well as discovering how it can protect electronic devices from liquid damage and corrosion. What was also great is that many delegates who visited us last year came back to our booth, this time bringing a crowd with them interested to see the technology first hand.
Images from our booth over the four days
While the booth was busy with delegates, our technology was also picked up by a host of media and like last year, we receieved a great deal of press coverage from all kinds of sources including; PC World, Gadgetsteria, PC Advisor, Gagagadget, Nerd Reactor, Mobile Magazine, EBN News and Fox News to name but a few! There are also video features still to be posted from popular technology sites including Tech Bargins. These will be promoted on our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts once live.
The combination of media coverage, a consistantly busy booth and Hannibal, our corporate magician entertaining the crowds, once again made CES a great success for us and validated our position as the world leaders in liquid repellent nano-coating technology for consumer electronics. We are now in further discussions with leading electronic brands about applying Aridion™ to a new range of consumer devices so watch this space.
You can see a collection of our images here as well as watching a short video we have put together showing some of the highlights from our booth:
You can find out more about Aridion™ by visiting: www.p2i.com/electronics and if you have any questions about how Aridion™ works do get in contact by commenting below.
Day two at CES is almost over and it has been great with many delegates amazed by our technology and by our tissue demonstrations. Over the two days we have also received a lot of media coverage as well as interviews and below is a list of just some of the articles that have been posted:
As you can see the coverage we are receiving is superb with many individuals and businesses interested in the opportunities that our technology presents. Throughout the day delegates have also been filming the demonstrations so we expect to see them up on YouTube very soon. We will post another update tomorrow but here are some more images from our booth:
It is over a year now since we first attended International CES in Las Vegas and we are now back to showcase our technology at the 2012 event. The show in 2011 was a great experiance for us and we gained a lot of coverage including Microsoft and Cool Tools, which you can read in post from last year.
This year our booth is even bigger and we have a host of meetings with leading electronic brands and manufacturers. Dr. Stephen Couslon CTO, demonstrates our liquid repellent technology from our booth:
CES 2012 runs from the 10th-13th of January and each day we will be uploading images and videos to our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts as well as posting a daily blog live from our booth.
Here are some images from our booth on the first day of CES:
Booth starts to gather a crowd
Demonstrations
Hannibal performs his magic
All our images will be uploaded to our Facebook and Flickr accounts next week but we will add more images in tomorrow's post.
