Tokyo, Jan 28 (IANS): Japan-based Kyocera has introduced a new "rafre" washable smartphone that features resistance to hot water and a touchscreen that be can be used even when the user's hands are wet or when wearing gloves.

The product will be available from March 2017 in Japan and will be offered in three colours -- pale pink, clear white and light blue.

"The smartphone is a successor to the orignal DIGNO rafre, which launched in December 2015 as the world's first hand-soap-washable smartphone. In addition to resistance against foaming hand soap, the second-generation model possesses resistance to foaming body soap," the company said in a post on Friday.

Furthermore, the new handset is equipped with a special cooking app which allows users to scroll through recipes, set timers and answer calls through hand gestures without having to touch the display.

Equipped with phase detection auto-focus and auto HDR, the device sports 13MP rear camera, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory, 3,000mAh battery and runs on Android 7.0 Nougat operating system.