P2i, the company that makes gadgets water repellent, has told TechRadar it is talking to 'large Korean manufacturers' about making their phones liquid unfriendly.
P2i is also looking to create a standard to which all manufacturers can adhere for making phones water resistant, which would make networks more likely to range the phones if they were to need fewer repairs.
"There is major interest from carriers in the US to discuss criteria to help against water ingestion for customers," said Eric Cohill, COO for P2i.
"We're working with major carriers to create a standard of performance [for water repellence] which can give OEMs something to work to when creating smartphones.
The fruity company wants in
"There are several hundred pound gorillas in the phone industry, we've got the 'fruity companies' and the big Korean brands, and they're all becoming interested [in our technology] as they don't want to be second best in the market."
"There's a lot more excitement this year, and we're talking to a major US carrier to set an internal baseline for standards which could affect the decisions these networks make over which phone to range.
"If it's fair and consumers respond to it, there's a good chance it will become a standard and that will help us all."
Motorola is already signed up to use P2i's technology in its Life-proof range of phones and tablets, such as the Xoom 2, and it could well be joined by the next 'wave' of modern smartphones in the near future.
