Teva launch their first mountain bike shoe featuring ion-mask™

Outdoor pursuits in particular mountain biking, is popular the world over but ensuring you have the correct footwear to match the conditions can be problematic. Help is at hand now though, thanks to Teva and ion-mask™.

Founded by a guide on the Colorado River in 1984 (who went on to produce the world's first sports sandal), Teva now lead the way in which we can engage with our environments, especially those involving water.

As Chris Hillyer, Product Line Manager for Performance Products at Teva describes it: "Water presents a paradox to Teva. It provides a year round playground but also a number of challenges, as anyone who has ever ended up with soaking wet shoes can confirm."

With this problem in mind, Teva have taken their product development one step further with the introduction of our ion-mask™ technology to their latest range of shoes for mountain biking - the Links.

The Links bike shoe is Teva's first venture into mountain biking footwear and has been designed in conjunction with professional mountain biker Jeff Lenosky, also known as the 'father' of freeride mountain biking and creator of the Mountain Games. Teva, have sponsored the games for the last five years and it is now recognized as one of the premier freeride competitions in the country.

Teva's Links Mountain Bike Shoe

The Links shoes incorporate a host of features ensuring the user remains in maximum comfort throughout the biking experience. Designed specifically for use with flat pedals and featuring Teva's Spider365 sticky rubber soles to offer maximum grip, the shoes also feature a Shoc-Pad for cushioning while on the uppers, flexible armor has been introduced in the key wear areas. Adding to this, Teva has incorporated ion-mask™ to ensure that however wet the conditions are underfoot the wearer remains dry and comfortable.

The Links are due for launch in the UK in early August 2011 but they are already being reviewed online, including Bike Rader and Outdoors Magic and if you are in America, then they are available from the official Teva site.

You can find out more about Teva here or watch their official video below:




Want to know more about ion-mask™? 

ion-mask™ is our technology for lifestyle applications including footwear, textiles, gloves, hats and apparel. You can find out more on the ion-mask™ page or watch the technology in action below:



P2i

Aridion™ Technology: Transforming the reliability of electronic devices

Last week we looked at the beginnings of Nanotechnology. This week we turn our focus on Aridion™, P2i's nano-coating technology for electronic devices.

But first, what is P2i technology?

Our patented technology employs a special pulsed ionized gas (plasma) which is created within a vacuum chamber where a nanometer-thin (1000 times thinner than a human hair) polymer layer is applied over the entire surface of a product.

This process dramatically reduces the surface energy of a product, so that when liquids come into contact with it, they form beads and simply roll off:



Our technology is focused around two consumer brands: Aridion™ for electronics and ion-mask™ for lifestyle products. For industrial applications the technology is covered by the corporate P2i brand (which will be explored in later posts).

Aridion™ Technology: Transforming the reliability of electronic Devices

What is Aridion™ technology? Aridion™ is our coating for electronic devices. It coats every aspect of a finished product at the nanoscopic level offering a truly durable and invisible liquid repellent coating that does not affect the working components of electronic devices whilst maintaining look, feel and functionality. 

The benefits:

Protective:
Aridion™ delivers an amazing level of liquid repellency to whole devices, so that on treated surfaces, liquid forms beads and simply rolls off.

Reliable:
Aridion™ transforms the reliability of electronic devices containing delicate, expensive components at high risk of liquid damage through corrosion or electrical failure.

Durable:
The liquid repellent nano-coating is physically bonded at a molecular level, so it lasts as long as the material itself

Invisible:
The unique ultra-thin Aridion™ protective layer invisibly improves the performance of electronic devices without affecting the product's look or feel.

You can find out more by visiting the Aridion™ homepage or see the technology in action below in our video:

So what is Nanotechnology?

In this blog we have spoken about our two technologies ion-mask™ and Aridion™ but we haven't discussed what nanotechnology is or how it works.

Nanotechnology is the science of engineering matter on an astonishingly small scale - at the molecular or atomic level. To break it down further a nanometer (nm) is a unit of length equal to one billionth of a meter or one millionth of a millimeter. To put it another way, it is about one thousand times thinner than a human hair.

The term 'nano' comes from the Greek, meaning 'dwarf' and in the below video from 1977 entitled 'Power of Ten' demonstrates the magnitudes of size, where you can see for yourself just how small a nanometer really is:



Where did nanotechnology all begin?

The concept of nanotechnology or engineering from the bottom up, with atomic precision, was first suggested as long ago as 1959 by the renowned American physicist Richard Feynman. Famously, he delivered a ground breaking talk to the American Physical Society, entitled: There's plenty of room at the bottom which explored the ability to manipulate matter on an atomic scale.

But it was not until a 1974 paper that the term nanotechnology was first defined by Tokyo University of Science Professor Norio Taniguchi. Then, in the 1980's the term nanotechnology was popularized by the American engineer Dr. Kim Eric Erexler who promoted the significance of nanotechnology through speeches and books.

What is next for nanotechnology?

Research on nanotechnology is continually expanding, covering a number of fields including medicine, electronics, textiles, biomaterials and energy production. Even in the home, nanotechnology is present with nano-chemical sprays being developed that can digest grease and grime from kitchen surfaces, preventing them from coming back!

Over the next few years we can expect to see nanotechnologies becoming an increasing part of our lives.  The unbelievably small is set to become the next big thing!

If you would like to know more about our world leading liquid repellent nano-coating technology, please do get in contact or you can find out more about our technology in the video below:



Dr Stephen Coulson, CTO

'Running on Water' - Hi-Tec's Liquid Mountaineering featured on MythBusters

'Liquid Mountaineering', launched last April as a viral on YouTube, has taken the world by storm. With nearly 10 million views to date, it has even started a new sports phenomenon with a whole host of videos emerging of attempts to run on water, including Liquid Mountaineering arrives in America;  Ripple Runner and St. Andrews Surface Tension.

While all are very good, it is the original that has really captured the imagination:



All this exposure has caught the attention of Discovery Channel's 'MythBusters' program who were keen to put the myth to the test - can you actually run on water?

As you can see from the amount of views and spin-offs video that the viral has generated, it is a question that many people want an answer to. So on Wednesday's edition of MythBusters, the episode entitled 'Running on Water' was aired. You can see highlights from the after show edition below:



The viral all stems from Hi-Tec's development of their Infinity range which includes P2i's ion-mask™ technology or the 'totally water repellent coating' that is mentioned in the video. From this the 'Walk on Water' idea was born and a few months later Hi-Tec revealed all with the 'Making of Hi-Tec Liquid Mountaineering'...



Awarded the coveted: Best Viral Mockumentary from Ad Age, Liquid Mountaineering has been a huge success for Hi-Tec and the coverage on MythBusters tops off a very successful campaign.

Want to know more about the shoes featured in the video? You can see the collection and learn about the Infinity story here.

K-Swiss picks up the pace with P2i

K-Swiss, a leading American footwear company has teamed up with P2i and our ion-mask™ technology to revolutionize two of their product lines; the Kwicky Blade-Light and the California which you can see below:

Kwicky Blade-Light

California

K-Swiss are renowned for their premium range of running footwear with many of their customers competing in high level sports such as ironmans and triathalons.

K-Swiss are differentiating their 'running' brand with the introduction of ion-mask™, ensuring that the shoes remain lightweight throughout competition as the nano-coating repels water and allows for the natural breathability of the model. Watch the video for the Kwicky Blade-Light below:



The shoes were officially launched in February 2011 and revealed at the Trek/K-Swiss Triathlon camp in Kona, Hawaii. You can read a first review on the Triathlete Europe website.

You can find out more about ion-mask™ by visiting the website or see how the technology works in our video below:



If you own a pair of Kwicky Blade-Lights we would love to hear your review: Contact us

P2i is Best of Show at AudiologyNOW! 2011

We have just returned from what was a very successful show at AudiologyNOW! 2011 in Chicago, where we are delighted to announce that P2i won the Best of Show award!

The award which is voted for by the AudiologyNOW! attendees, celebrates the 'Best of Show' booth during the event.

CEO, Carl Francis and Natasha Verniquet with the Best of Show award

Carl Francis, CEO, on winning the award said "We are delighted to have been awarded 'Best of Show' at AudiologyNOW! 2011. While this win is no doubt a reflection of the great booth and great team we fielded this year, it also underscores the wide acceptance and market share growth that P2i's Aridion™ technology has achieved across the whole of the hearing aid industry in just two short years."

Images of our award winning booth:

The P2i booth: Best of Show



Our booth from the foyer

Demonstrating our technology inside the booth

The award topped off what was a very successful show for P2i; offering opportunities to strengthen existing relationships with our clients as well as introducing Aridion™ technology to a host of new businesses.

You can see a collection of our images from AudiologyNOW! here. If you would like to know more about Aridion™ and the benefits it offers for hearing devices please do get in contact.

Building up to AudiologyNOW! 2011

With the success of CES and Mobile World Congress, we have now turned our focus on exhibiting at AudiologyNOW! (AAA) which starts tomorrow in Chicago.

The event, which is the world's largest gathering of audiologists, meets annually to discuss the latest developments in hearing technology and is a key market for P2i to further promote our Aridion™ technology.

Already utilized by three of the world's largest hearing aid manufacturers, Aridion™ is well known in audiologist circles having exhibited at AudiologyNOW! last year. However our booth for this year is a significant step up from our display in 2010, below:

P2i booth - 2010

As a sign of the growth we are seeing as a company the booth that P2i will have at AudiologyNOW! 2011 reflects this expansion:

P2i booth - 2011

Featuring a podium for our corporate magician and pods to demonstrate our world leading liquid repellent nano-coating technology we also have a custom 3D hologram kiosk where you can watch all our videos and see the potential applications for our technology.

But what is really exciting is that we will also be introducing our new compact Aridion™ 8 machine to the audiologists at AAA, which has been designed specifically to address the needs of smaller hearing aid manufacturers and dispensers.

Aridion™ 8 Machine

The machine, which will be on the booth for viewing purposes only, measures only 580mm (w) x 860mm (h) x 600mm (d), meaning that it allows for cost-effective and efficient processing of lower product volumes.

And because of its size all Aridion™ 8 machines can be installed at any location that has a standard power supply and are operated at the touch of a single button.

The Aridion™ 8 opens up unique opportunities for all hearing aid manufacturers to provide the protective benefits of Aridion™ to the millions of hearing aids made each year, something that we are very excited about.

Audiologists will be able to see firsthand how compact the machine is and we will have staff available to answer all questions.

AudiologyNOW! 2011 is also another benchmark for P2i and Aridion™, as there are now over four million hearing aid users benefiting from our unbeatable protection against corrosion damage.

To find out more about Aridion™ and the Aridion™ 8 machine you can visit us at Booth 1371 during the show (7th - 9th April), we look forward to seeing you there.