At CES 2024, HZO, a North Carolina-based company specializing in thin film coatings for electronic devices, showcased a groundbreaking water vapor coating technology that allows computers, specifically a Raspberry Pi 4 single-board computer, to be completely immersed in water while maintaining normal functionality.

HZO emphasizes that the key to this technology is the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process

The primary innovation in HZO’s coating technology lies in the use of xylene, a substance that forms a molecular-level thin film through a vacuum deposition process. This allows the coating to be exceptionally thin and evenly distributed on the surface of electronic equipment, such as bare circuit boards. During the demonstration, a Raspberry Pi 4 was fully submerged in water, illustrating the effectiveness of the coating in protecting electronic components from water damage.

HZO emphasizes that the key to this technology is the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. In this process, the precursor material is heated until it transforms into a gas. Subsequently, the gas is further heated to create active monomers. Within a constant-temperature deposition chamber near room temperature, these monomers are deposited on all surfaces in the chamber. The active monomers connect to form a polymer coating with a thickness ranging between 2 and 25 microns.

HZO’s coating is particularly versatile, as it can operate at room temperature, making it suitable for various electronic components. The company stresses that the parylene coating resulting from the CVD process is highly reliable and does not release harmful chemical by-products during the polymerization process. This feature enhances the safety and environmental friendliness of the coating technology.

The potential applications of HZO’s water vapor coating technology extend across various industries, including automotive electronics and sensors especially in electric vehicles, smart home devices, consumer electronics, and biosensors. This breakthrough holds promise for creating water-resistant and even waterproof electronic devices, offering a new level of protection against liquid-related damage.

With the successful demonstration at CES 2024, HZO’s innovative coating technology represents a significant step forward in the development of electronics capable of functioning seamlessly even when fully immersed in water, opening up possibilities for enhanced durability and reliability in a wide range of electronic applications.

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A new patent that has recently surfaced has suggested that the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 may feature a secondary display on the outside and will even be water resistant. The patent has been published by WIPO from Samsung Electronics and was first reported by LetsGoDigital.

Looking at the patent images, the Samsung foldable smartphone depicted bears a resemblance to the original Galaxy Fold. This device also folds inwards and has a camera system on the outside. However, a notable new inclusion is undoubtedly the secondary long notification display on the rear. The narrow display is likely to have its own unique functionality that allows readers to access notifications without unfolding their Galaxy Fold 2.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung announces mid-range Exynos 880 SoC with integrated 5G modem

The patent was listed as “ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING WATERPROOF STRUCTURE,” which also hints at its water resistant nature. According to the patent,  the design structure of the device is made to be waterproof to protect its internal components. Although how the smartphone manages to achieve this feature is still unknown. Other details regarding the patented handset include a dual camera setup on the front and back alongside necessary sensors.

Foldable smartphones have generally been considered too expensive to mass produce, with OEMs generally facing losses even when sold in limited quantities. Thus, an addition of a secondary display and water resistance protection might make things more difficult. But, it may still be possible in the near future and Samsung is probably capable of developing such a smartphone.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi RedmiBook 13, 14, and 16 launched, features AMD Ryzen 4000 series CPU

(Via)

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OUKITEL will be launching its next rugged smartphone in the WP series dubbed as WP6 on March 20. Apart from the sturdy build, the handset also comes with extreme features to go with it.

The forthcoming OUKITEL WP6 is powered by MediaTek Helio P70 octa-core processor clocked at 2.0 GHz. The chipset includes four small and four big cores to offer peak performance in gaming and other mundane tasks. The silicon is further paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM to let keep more apps in the background and let users store lots of pictures, videos, documents, other files.

The whole body of the phone is made of ruggedized material, whereas the front of the device comes fitted with a 6.3-inches display with a dew-drop notch at the top. The resolution of the screen is set at 2340 x 1080 pixels and has an aspect ratio of 18:9. Lastly, the display is covered by a 1.1mm layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for added protection.

The battery inside this device is a monstrous 10,000 mAh cell, which the company claims can offer 750 hours of standby, 45 hours of calling, 25 hours of browsing and 10 hours of video playback. Massive batteries need fast charging to fuel them up faster and hence the phone also supports 18W charging technology. Being a rugged phone, the handset also comes with IPX8 certification and hence it can withstand drops from 1.2 meters as well as survive underwater of 1.5 m depth for 30 minutes.

Most rugged industrial smartphones don’t have good cameras. But the OUKITEL WP6 features a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 48MP primary sensor with f/1.79 aperture paired with a 2MP depth sensor and an aux camera. Whereas, the selfie camera that houses in the notch is of 16MP with f/2.0 aperture. As for authentication, the device supports face unlock as well as a traditional fingerprint sensor located on the right side.

The company also assures the operating system of the phone to be faster than its previous models as well as phones from its competitors. Unfortunately, the brand did not reveal the pricing of the handset, which it will do on March 20 and guarantees it to be affordable.

OUKITEL WP6 Rugged Smartphone Giveaway

Celebrating the launch, OUKITEL is giving away 10 WP6 rugged smartphones to random people entering through the widget below. Just follow the instructions as given to win an OUKITEL WP6 for yourself. The giveaway ends on the day of the phone’s launch, i.e. March 20.

Giveaway 10 units WP6 – With 48M Triple Camera, 10000mAh

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After much speculations, rumours and leaks, South Korean tech giant Samsung has officially launched the Galaxy S8 along with the Galaxy S8 Plus in a ceremony today. The Samsung Galaxy S8 launch is the biggest event the tech giant is hosting since the Galaxy Note 7 saga so, the event was a highly anticipated one.  As you already know, the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus were billed to be the first smartphones to pack Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 chipset and indeed they were launched with the powerful flagship chip. But whether you’ll get to buy the Snapdragon 835-powered version of the S8 or S8 Plus will depend on where you live.

Design & Hardware

The Samsung Galaxy S8 features a design which isn’t entirely different from its predecessors but it comes with an unusually high screen-to-body ratio. A large display ensured the traditional home button which sits at the front of the screen under the display was absent. Instead, the Galaxy S8 features a virtual home button. The bezels are thin and the display is a curved one.

On the specifications, the Galaxy S8 sports a 5.8-ich Super AMOLED display with a resolution of  2960 x 1440 pixels and 570ppi. The processor is an octa-core Snapdragon 835 chipset clocked at 2.35GHz on some version while there is another version powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 8895 chip also clocked at 2.35GHz. The United States will get the Snapdragon 835-powered version while other international countries would get the Exynos 8895-powered version. China is said to also get the Qualcomm-powered version but there is no official word on that yet. Both versions are backed by 4GB of RAM while there is 64GB of storage onboard which is expandable via a microSD slot.

Camera, Battery

On the camera aspect, the Galaxy S8 packs a 12MP rear camera with a f/1.7 aperture, OIS and LED flash and at the front, there is an 8MP selfie camera with a f/1.7 aperture and autofocus. We are yet to see camera samples of theGalaxy S8’s camera but we believe it would be a very powerful setup. Keeping the lights on is a generous 3000mAh battery which should do a good job in that regard.

Connectivity, Other Features

Other features include a USB Type-C port, NFC and MST for Samsung Pay, IP68 water and dust resistance and yes, it still packs a 3.5mm headphone jack. There is also a wireless charging support as well as Cat. 16 LTE. Others include Bluetooth 5.0 which is capable of streaming to two devices at the same time and Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac. The Galaxy S8 isn’t too wide despite its large size, packing a dimension of 148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm and it weighs just 155g. The device runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and also comes with Samsung’s new Bixby Assistant which is launched by pressing a dedicated physical button located on the side of the phone.

Pricing & Availability

As for the pricing, Samsung left that out unfortunately but the Galaxy S8 is expected to start at around $750. Both the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be up for pre-order as from tomorrow, March 30 while they will be officially released in the US on April 21. Each pre-order qualifies you to get a free Gear VR headset with a controller and a set of games. The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will be available in black, gray, and silver in the US while Gold and blue are the options on the international edition.

	SAMSUNG GALAXY S8	Galaxy S8 Plus
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT	148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0 mm, 155 grams	159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm, 173g grams
DISPLAY	5.8-inch 2960 x 1440p (570 ppi) OLED	6.2-inch 2960 x 1440p (529 ppi) OLED
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 @ 2.3 / Exynos 9 @ 2.3	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 @ 2.3 / Exynos 9 @ 2.3
MEMORY	4GB + 64GB MicroSD: Yes	4GB + 64GB MicroSD: Yes
CAMERA	12MP f/1.7 OIS 8MP f/1.7 Front Camera	12MP f/1.7 OIS 8MP f/1.7 Front Camera
BATTERY	3000mAh Fast Charging Wireless Charging	3500mAh Fast Charging Wireless Charging
OS	Android 7 Nougat	Android 7 Nougat
SPECIAL FEATURES	IP68 Certification	IP68 Certification
COLORS	Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue and Maple Gold.	Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue and Maple Gold.
PRICE	$750 (Expected)	>$750 (Expected)

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The list of new features the expected Xiaomi Mi 6 is rumoured to launch with keep getting bigger by the day. Indeed, the Mi 6 holds lots of expectations from Xiaomi fans since it is the company’s first flagship for the year and there seem to be surprises aplenty.

Just yesterday, we got a leaked image said to be the Mi 6’s SIM card tray which reveals a stunning detail about the Xiaomi flagship. The SIM tray showed us that the Mi 6 would likely be water resistant and in effect be without the 3.5mm audio jack. While we are yet to digest that, a new rumour has emerged on Weibo hinting at the presence of an iris recognition technology among other features on the Mi 6. To buttress this, a set of leaked photo of the Mi 6 display glass panel and tempered glass protective cover were shown, revealing openings for the iris scanner at the front.

Also, the Xiaomi flagship is said to use a ceramic body which is similar to what the Mi Mix and a version of the Mi 5 featured. Although Ceramic glass will give the Mi 6 a more premium, sleeker look, it is slow to produce, so fans may experience scarcity of the device. We hope it gets featured on perhaps the topmost model only while we get a metal clad variant which is likely the case since the flagship is also rumoured to come with a colourful body.

READ ALSO: Full Spec Sheet for Xiaomi Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus Leaks

Since the Mi 6 would be waterproof, it means the charging port has to be taken care of, literally covered up and Xiaomi will likely do that by making the Mi 6 charge wirelessly. A wireless charging feature is another innovative feature the Mi 6 is rumoured to pack. We don’t know for sure if that means it won’t have a wired charging feature, anyway.

(source | via)

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There are plenty of phones out there and most of them have so many smart features that some of you may not even need. I just came across a $20 feature phone and I decided to give it a try. Did I like it? Learn more in the full VKWORLD Stone V3S review.

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gme86DEUNw[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The phone ships with a charger, some paperwork and some extra SIM card adapters.

DESIGN and FEATURES

For $20, you get a little phone that has the IP65 rating, meaning that the phone can survive some beating. Also, it is dust and dirt resistant and the device is splash-proof.

The Vkworld V3S is a well-built phone. I love the metal used on the sides of the device, which gives a little bit of premium look and feel.

The display is definitely not the sharpest out there but it is enough for such a cheap feature phone. However, the viewing angles are bad and it is quite reflective during the cloudy day.

The nicely backlit physical keys are tactile and they are nice to the touch.

One of the key selling points of the device is a dual-LED flashlight. However, I didn’t find it brighter than your everyday smartphone.

The loudspeaker is really good as it is louder than on most of the smartphones and the sound is quite clear.

USER INTERFACE and TEST NOTES

When it comes to the user interface, you should not expect to have lots of smart features but the phone gets the basics right. We have some essential everyday apps, music player, FM radio, calendar,  a few pre-installed games and so on.

Speaking of the basics, the call quality and signal reception are great.

Since you are going to use this phone mainly for the calls and other basic stuff, the battery will last you for days.

I could not kill this phone in 1 week using two SIM cards at the same time. Even if you don’t use the phone very often, the advertised 25 day standby time is a great feature to have.

CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have it, the $20 Vkworld V3S. It’s definitely not the phone for everyone since it was designed mainly for those who need just a simple phone that is well-built and it can survive a few drops and has just the basic features.

So far the phone has worked fine for me and I believe it’s worth the $20 price tag but I’m switching back to my smartphone as I can’t live without all the smart features it has.

What about you? Do you think you would need such a phone or would you rather add $30 more and buy a cheap smartphone? Let me know in the comment section down below.

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