For folks in Japan, waterproofing is a norm in mobile devices. And while Sony isn’t the only mobile maker with waterproofed phones in its portfolio, the brand can be considered somewhat of a leader and an evangelist. In line with that, the Japanese electronics giant has worked with brand communications agency Wieden + Kennedy and development partners Motim and SoftFacade to develop apps designed to be used in and under water.
A handful of videos have been developed to demonstrate the apps, and they’re ridiculously fun and cool.
The first of the lot is “Goldie”, an onscreen fish that gasps for air and flops when it’s out of water (that’s when you take the phone out of water).
http://youtu.be/rIu0C6uz7Ug
“Plantimal” is a virtual pet of sorts, which grows when you water it.
http://youtu.be/71Ph6x54cY4
Next is “Rainy-oke”, a karaoke app that’s made for rain. The video has a drag queen sing to a Cyndi Lauper number. Pretty sure this will never make it to Malaysia, if it was ad. Ahem. For obvious reasons.
http://youtu.be/MaZI-BRi4Fk
There are a couple more, so visit Adweek for more.
The brand is making the source code open for developers, so if you want to get your hands dirty and ‘wet’, head to Github.
A word of advice if you plan to submerge your favourite Xperia phone in water though – depending on dust- and water-resistant standards, it isn’t recommended to submerge your phone for more than 30 minutes, and exceeding 3m. The Xperia Z has a rating of IP57 while the Z1 and Z2 have a rating of IP58.
For more on IP rating standards for Sony mobile phones, visit Wikipedia.
Source: Adweek
