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IF you can’t bear to be separated from your phone even when you’re in the shower, then help is at hand. Sony’s new Xperia Z smart phone range will work under water for up to 30 minutes.
In addition to a battery 'stamina mode', which Sony claims will double battery life, and 'one-touch' connectivity that links to the phone to a hifi, say, with one tap, the Xperia Z is also water resistant and dust-proof.
The water resistance means that the phone, announced at CES in Las Vegas, will work under water for up to 30 minutes. It will work in the shower, survive a dunking in the toilet and can be given a quick rinse under the tap if it gets wet.
"If you want to want to sit in the bath and watch an HD movie this is the device for you," Steve Walker, of Sony, said.
Sony's stand at the Consumer Electronics Show has an Xperia Z attached to a robotic arm that repeatedly lowers it into a bowl of water.
There are limits to what the phone can handle, however. The Sony Xperia Z is water resistant only to depths of one metre so divers will still want to leave it on the shore.
Users will also have to make sure that the plastic covers that protect the phone's charging and connection ports stay in place whenever the handset is under water.
The handset has a 5-inch 1080p high definition screen, a quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel camera.
The Xperia Z will be available for pre-order in Britain from early February. Prices have not yet been confirmed.
Sony is also making a non-waterproof version of the handset, the Sony Xperia ZL. That model will not be released in Britain.
By Shane Richmond Telegraph.co.uk
