Whether you’re an Android, iOS, or Windows 10 Mobile user, you carry around a complex device that likely cost you some serious cash. While most of today’s solid state devices aren’t particularly fragile, there’s one component in that costly smartphone that can be smashed to bits and without which your mobile computer is next to worthless.
That component is, of course, the display, and while technology has made today’s screens more durable, work remains to be done. That’s why Corning, maker of the ubiquitous Gorilla Glass technology, remains hard at work on making screens hard to scratch and break.
As The Verge reports (via Windows Central), Gorilla Glass 5 has been announced and it’s looking like a winner:
Glassmaker Corning just unveiled its newest version of Gorilla Glass, the chemically strengthened super glass that dozens of consumer electronics makers use in their devices.
Called Gorilla Glass 5, the new glass was formulated to improve drop performance from gadgets that are dropped onto rough surfaces from certain heights — specifically, waist height to shoulder height. Selfie-fumblers rejoice: Corning says Gorilla Glass 5 (at 0.6mm thick) survives up to 80 percent of the time when dropped from 1.6 meters.
Corning research shows that fully 85% of all smartphone users have dropped their devices in the last 12 months. That means that the need for stronger screen technology will likely remain forever, and the goal of Gorilla Glass 5 will be to account for the rough surfaces and at least waist-high drops to which smartphones are subjected.
We should know more about Gorilla Glass 5 in a few months, and Corning hopes to add to the 4.5 billion devices currently using their technology. Let us know in the comments if Gorilla Glass has protected any of your smartphones from any drops.
Further reading: Microsoft, smartphone
