Did you ever feel like your smartphone screen was too dirty? Well, it would be entirely reasonable. The skin on our fingers leave a little bit of oil when we touch objects, and over some time, this accounts for what some would call a “dirty display” with smudgy greasy spots and all that.
Some smartphone manufacturers are trying to optimize their hardware to be less prone to greasy fingers, and while that helps, it’s not perfect and certainly doesn’t remove bacteria that you can’t see.
A carwash for your smartphone
Carwash, stylized as “CARWASH,” is a new product that is currently in an early conceptual phase. The Carwash device is designed to be small enough to find a permanent spot on anyone’s desk easily. How is it going to help you with your smudgy smartphone screens?
Basically, you just insert your smartphone, like you’d insert a disk into a drive, and the Carwash device does the rest. A fully automatic cleaning, polishing, and sanitizing process in less than 12 seconds. And voila, your smartphone is ejected fresh and clean. How does that sound to you?
Status of the idea
The product is still in R&D. Currently, they are trying to gather funding with a Kickstarter campaign. As of now, they are projecting the first items to be ready for shipping in January 2018. They have not yet prepared a website, but you can check out their video below.
Difficulties
It’s possible that due to changes in mobile trends of device dimensions, it will be difficult for Carwash to build a single device that fits all kinds of Smartphones. Will our phones forever remain as thin as they are? Will they become larger in a way? It won’t be easy for Carwash to match all sizes, but it should be doable somehow.
The other concern around this soon-to-be solution is going to be its retail price. Currently, the first items to be shipped through Kickstarter require a backing of between €89 and €99. I am uncertain if they will be able to establish a position in the market in that kind of segment. I’d see it somewhere between 20 and 30 bucks.
I am keen to see more from this team in the near future. Good luck to them.
Photo credit: Carwash
Editorial notice: Update 19th of July, 2022 – after receiving a request from the person who launched the campaign, the name of the user and the video in this article have been removed.
