Skip to main content

You can finally text in the rain thanks to the Phone-brella

You know this has happened to you before. You’re walking down the street texting like crazy about nothing important. Forget that you are literally bumping into people — suddenly it starts pouring. Now what? You really need to text a cute picture of your cat to your BFF, but your phone isn’t waterproof.

So you pull out your umbrella, if you’re lucky enough to have one, and try to juggle holding that clunky thing in one hand and control your monster phablet with the other. You lean the umbrella on your shoulder and support it with your arm so both hands are free, but darn, the rain is coming at an angle and your phone is getting wet. Meanwhile your BFF is sitting patiently waiting for that one-of-a-kind photo of your adorable cat, so how are you going to pull this off?

Ladies and gentlemen … let me introduce you to the Phone-brella. What is the Phone-brella you ask? You’re probably thinking that it’s some sort of smart umbrella that James Bond would use, but no sir. This is way cooler than something 007 would use.

This umbrella has something so incredible that we’re trying to figure out why no one thought of it before. It sports a C-shaped handle that goes around your wrist like a bracelet, thus freeing your hand to text away and keep your phone dry at the same time.

The Phone-brella was created by kt design, which is the design arm of Korean telecom giant KT. It received top honors at the Red Dot Design Awards this past Monday.

The video below will show you exactly how the Phone-brella works. Just make sure to forget that the guy with a traditional umbrella is literally standing next to a rain-resistant awning. Maybe he was just too scared to be next to the attractive lady sitting comfortably on the bench. Thankfully she was able to rescue him, and the rest is left to your imagination.

The Phone-brella comes in five colors: Classic Grey, Smokey Gray, Blossom Red, Royal Red, and Chic Black. Right now it’s only available as a limited edition gift for kt customers, but we presume it will become more widely available soon. We’re not sure how much it costs, but I’m all in if they offer an attachable selfie-stick.

Robert Nazarian
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Robert Nazarian became a technology enthusiast when his parents bought him a Radio Shack TRS-80 Color. Now his biggest…
iOS 18: Everything you need to know about the iPhone update
An iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 18, showing its home screen.

Apple showed off the next major iteration of iOS during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June. The next big update is iOS 18, and it’s packing quite a punch in terms of features.

It will eventually bring in Apple Intelligence, which is Apple’s suite of AI tools. Combined with new customization tools, a redesigned Photos app, and more, there’s a lot to dive into. Here’s everything you need to know about iOS 18.
iOS 18 release date

Read more
Trading in your old phone for the iPhone 16? Make sure you do this first
iPhone 16 Pro color options.

The thought of $650 off a new iPhone 16, as promised during the Apple event, might be enticing -- but know there are conditions associated with trade-in. If your phone is damaged at all, the trade-in value quickly drops to a whopping $0. If you plan to trade in your current device for an upgrade, you might also want to consider taking it in for repairs before you swing by the Apple Store.

Macworld's Michael Simon had some first-hand experience with this. His iPhone 15 Pro Max, a phone likely to yield almost the maximum value, had a crack along its back. The glass wasn't falling off, and it was a relatively easy repair -- but Apple offered him $0 for the trade-in, even though he could have taken it in for repairs for just $29 thanks to AppleCare Plus.

Read more
Here’s everything you can do with the iPhone 16’s Camera Control button
Someone using the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16.

Apple has announced the iPhone 16 lineup, and it’s an exciting upgrade to one of Apple’s biggest product lines. The iPhone 16 gets the Action button that debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro models last year, and Apple is also adding a new Camera Control across the entire iPhone 16 lineup, so it's not just exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro models — the regular iPhone 16 models have it too.

Originally rumored to be a “capture” button, the Camera Control can do much more than just take a photo. Here are all of the cool things you can do with the Camera Control on the iPhone 16 series.
What is the Camera Control?

Read more