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Nov 8, 2010

Super-Thin Waterproof Speakers Are Swimming Their Way To Cellphones

As you can tell from the picture, these speakers are dead skinny. 0.9mm thick, to be exact, making them perfectly-sized for cellphones, cameras and other portable gadgets which may require all the parts to be waterproofed.

Murata, based in Kyoto, Japan, created what they're calling the world's first "ultra-thin waterproof piezoelectric speaker," which is said to be cheaper than the usual waterproof speakers found in Japan, thanks to the way the output holes have been waterproofed. Normally speakers are covered with waterproof "sheets," which cover the output holes—understandably reducing the sound quality, but also proving costly to create. Murata gets around that problem by getting rid of the waterproof sheeting altogether, instead redesigning the speaker holes entirely.

Waterproof phones are pretty popular in Japan we hear, with Murata claiming that around one in four phones released in Japan last year were actually immune to moisture. They're on sale to manufacturers now, at around 250 Yen ($2.70) per unit.

20 comments:

SuciƓ Sanchez said...

That's great! I've been waiting for a decent basic waterproof cellphone.

Callum Webster said...

Thats cool tech!

. said...

awesome tech

Sean Clark said...

This could be used to make sweet waterproof mp3 players for swimmers and stuff. Makes long practices less boring.

HondaX said...

great man.....very nice

admin said...

wow those are some tiny speakers. and waterproof! even better

The Drug Connoisseur said...

That looks crazy! Great blogs, def following.

comradejoker.blogspot.com/ said...

Finally! water-proof, mini speakers!

Christie Klein said...

My first mobile phone was a pre-paid calling card and a bag of quarters. and I LIKED it.

The Situation said...

Pretty crazy.

McGizzle said...

Now I can make an underwater phonecall? O_o

Gurney said...

wow great stuff. waterproof on phones is the way to go

Anonymous said...

they should have these on blackberrys

PlanetBen said...

Being someone who has dropped their cell in water many times, I am all for this

Shimizu said...

finally, i'll use my cell phone in the bathtub

befashionistic.blogspot.com/ said...

lol at swimmin their way

Engelhart said...

Heh, I just had a great idea involving covering the floor of a swimming pool in these things.

happybuffet said...

Cool stuff. I'm really excited about this. You don't know how many phones I've lost due to a little bit of water spilling on to them.

Aaron said...

Cool! You can have speakers in your pool then, for classical music while diving for pennies!

Jessica said...

That's really cool. Great blog!