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The Phone-brella is a hands-free way to keep you and your smartphone dry

The Phone-brella is a hands-free way to keep you and your smartphone dry

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Here's a simple logistical problem: it's raining, you're using your smartphone, but you don't want to get it wet. Do you cover it with one hand and use the other to type? Your puny thumb barely gets half way across your smartphone's giant screen. You crane your head over the phone, using your body as a shield for your precious device? You'll walk smack into someone going the other way. No, there's a much more obvious way — you buy a dedicated Phone-brella and never worry about rainwater on your smartphone again.

The Phone-brella was created by the design wing of South Korean telecoms giant KT, and uses an extra piece of plastic on its handle to secure your umbrella to your wrist, freeing both hands for tapping and scrolling purposes. The neat design won a prized Red Dot Design award, but better still is the video that accompanies its release. A man, clearly standing close to a rain-defying awning, struggles with a small umbrella for a time before a helpful woman gently pulls it out of his grasp, replacing it with her own Phone-brella. Then, inexplicably, she stands under the modified umbrella with him, watching him as he taps away on his phone. "Plz stop watching me omg," he's presumably typing, as the screen fades out to show the five color variants the Phone-brella comes in.