Slashdot Mirror
Gorilla Glass-Maker Plans To Produce Glass Suitable For Folding iPhones (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: According to Wired, glass-maker Corning is "working on ultrathin, bendable glass that's 0.1 millimeters thick and can bend to a 5 millimeter radius" that may be usable for smartphone displays within two years. Corning produces Gorilla Glass used in Apple's iPhones, as well as in phones made by other manufacturers like LG, Asus, OnePlus, Nokia, Samsung, and more. Developing Gorilla Glass that can bend or fold like the materials used for the Samsung Galaxy Fold display or other foldable phone concepts could address some shortcomings endemic to these early designs.
The folding phones you see in headlines and gadget blog galleries today rely on plastic polymers that may scratch easier or have other undesirable properties. Generally, smartphone-makers that have announced foldable phones have not allowed us to test-drive these phones, which is otherwise normal practice for traditional smartphone product unveilings. That may be primarily because the software is not there yet, but it could also be that the companies anticipate negative reactions to the plastic displays, which have not been standard in flagship phones for a decade. [...] John Bayne, Corning's head of Gorilla Glass, and another expert Wired spoke with believe that Corning (or a competitor like ACG) will have foldable glass ready for use in foldable smartphones within a couple of years. But it's a difficult journey. "We have glasses we've sampled to customers, and they're functional," Bayne told Wired. "But they're not quite meeting all the requirements. People either want better performance against a drop event or a tighter bend radius. We can give them one or the other; the key is to give them both."
The folding phones you see in headlines and gadget blog galleries today rely on plastic polymers that may scratch easier or have other undesirable properties. Generally, smartphone-makers that have announced foldable phones have not allowed us to test-drive these phones, which is otherwise normal practice for traditional smartphone product unveilings. That may be primarily because the software is not there yet, but it could also be that the companies anticipate negative reactions to the plastic displays, which have not been standard in flagship phones for a decade. [...] John Bayne, Corning's head of Gorilla Glass, and another expert Wired spoke with believe that Corning (or a competitor like ACG) will have foldable glass ready for use in foldable smartphones within a couple of years. But it's a difficult journey. "We have glasses we've sampled to customers, and they're functional," Bayne told Wired. "But they're not quite meeting all the requirements. People either want better performance against a drop event or a tighter bend radius. We can give them one or the other; the key is to give them both."
I'm sure Corning would be happy to talk with you about using their product in the much less inane and useless products that you produce.
I think we have been jaded because Smart phones are so commonly used, that we really don't realize how Amazing technology it it.
Thinking back 20 years ago.
A Cell phone just did calls, If you had the premium model it would support Digial Phone Service, and you would be able to Text (expensively) and have features like a contact list.
Your PC or laptop would have a Wired Internet Connection (If you were on the cutting edge, or in college or worked for a big company) you would have an Ethernet connection, however most people would connect with a modem (56k)
Crazy Expensive Addons for your PC would be a Web Cam that can display 320x200 or a fancy one at 640x480 resolution. If you wanted a GPS be ready to shell out Thousands of dollars, and need custom Windows Only software that plugs into your serial port that will allow you to upload maps to it.
Touch Screens were one finger only and you often had to press like the dickens to get it to respond.
PDAs at the time, may have a color display, but no internet access, they were high tech notepads, and pocket planners.
So now over the course of my day, I can access information whenever I want. When Exposed to a term that I haven't heard before, I can look it up. For example I was looking at job openings, and I saw a lot of Jobs open for a "Full Stack Developer" I never was exposed to that term before, So I looked it up, and realized it was the type of work that I have been doing for the past 20 years. Even searching for the job openings I had my phone. I am lost, I can pull out the Map app, and see where to go. I need a flashlight, I have a flashlight, I need to magnify something, I can take the camera app and Zoom in.
It is easy to be jaded, because nearly everyone has a smartphone now. And often it is used as a toy to play a game, or to gossip with classmates. And we are mostly exposed to small updates over time in software and hardware. Getting a new feature, that we currently don't know how to implement, then gradually over time becoming an important feature.
Yes we may be using Gorilla Glass in some non-consumer technology too. Bust just become something is common and often used for silly things, doesn't mean it is a bad technology.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.