[QUOTE][IMG]http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/11/17/Screen_Shot_2011-11-17_at_12.08.02_PM_610x374.png[/IMG]Apple's airbag-esq idea.
(Credit: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)
Will future iPhones hold up better to big drops? They might if they sport special shock absorbers like the one featured in a newly published Apple patent application.An early 2010 [URL="http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=%22Tunable+Shock+Mount%22.CLM.&OS=ACLM/%22Tunable+Shock+Mount%22&RS=ACLM/%22Tunable+Shock+Mount%22"]filing[/URL] picked up by [URL="http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/11/apple-invents-crack-resistant-glass-solutions-for-portables.html"]Patently Apple[/URL] this morning details a shock mount system that sits between the display and the body of the phone. That protective layer can then be inflated to help brace the device in the event it senses a drop, much like the technology in notebook hard drives that locks up the read/write heads, keeping damage at bay.As Apple notes in the patent, the problem's worth addressing given that thinner gadgets and glass add up to the potential for more damage."In general, the thicker the glass, the stronger it is," the patent reads. "Unfortunately, however, with low-profile handheld devices, the glass cover is often relatively thin, and tends to be susceptible to damage when the small form factor device is stressed, as for example, when dropped onto the floor."The proposed solution involves the use of special pads seated underneath the glass and designed to absorb the shock and keep more important device components protected. The design also allows for used shock mounts to be swapped out, leaving the undamaged components untouched during any repairs.The idea bears similarity to an Amazon patent filing in August that detailed [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20091813-94/amazons-bezos-files-patent-for-phone-air-bag/"]an airbag system[/URL] for mobile devices that blows up just like airbags in a [URL="http://reviews.cnet.com/car-tech/"]car[/URL]. That system also included a vision for creating a reorientation system that would be able to adjust a gadget's position upon dropping, so as to keep sensitive bits from hitting the ground first.[/QUOTE]
[URL]http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-57326874-248/iphones-with-airbags-could-be-patent-hints/[/URL]
[QUOTE]The idea bears similarity to an Amazon patent filing in August that detailed an airbag system for mobile devices that blows up just like airbags in a car.[/QUOTE]
Once again proving that this is about aggressively abusing the patent system to stifle competition, not protecting ideas.
Or you could, you know, build it a couple mils thicker and not need this in the first place! I'd much rather have a slightly thicker phone that doesn't break when it falls off my table than a slightly thinner one that does.
[QUOTE=TestECull;33352803]Or you could, you know, build it a couple mils thicker and not need this in the first place! I'd much rather have a slightly thicker phone that doesn't break when it falls off my table than a slightly thinner one that does.[/QUOTE]
Such a system would make a phone much more thicker than even a sturdier, thicker phone.
I don't think technology that is as sleek as the current smartphones today could ever be physically shock proof
Unless of course they create a phone frame from lighter but sturdier metals and advance the materials used in the screens. Perhaps they could take the vehicle frame technology and somehow transfer it to pocket size.
Perhaps something simpler like easier and cheaper, user-replaceable screens?
[QUOTE=sHiBaN;33353091]Perhaps something simpler like easier and cheaper, user-replaceable screens?[/QUOTE]
But how will Apple suck money out of you if you don't have to go to them to buy another iPhone after you breathed on it making it shatter?
[QUOTE=sHiBaN;33353091]I don't think technology that is as sleek as the current smartphones today could ever be physically shock proof
Unless of course they create a phone frame from lighter but sturdier metals and advance the materials used in the screens. Perhaps they could take the vehicle frame technology and somehow transfer it to pocket size.
Perhaps something simpler like easier and cheaper, user-replaceable screens?[/QUOTE]
I actually just went on a tour of ASU's Flexible Screen research facilities, they have some incredible OLED screens in production that they say are at least 200 times more durable than the current market screens. It's pretty cool, all I can say from what I saw and heard is that about in the next 4 to 6 years we have some pretty incredible things coming our way.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;33353782]I actually just went on a tour of ASU's Flexible Screen research facilities, they have some incredible OLED screens in production that they say are at least 200 times more durable than the current market screens. It's pretty cool, all I can say from what I saw and heard is that about in the next 4 to 6 years we have some pretty incredible things coming our way.[/QUOTE]
ASU as in ASU Arizona State?
Also, I agree, it seems like they're just trying to patent everything they see in sight before someone else can think of it and monetize.
Jesus, pretty much all smartphones nowadays are uncomfortably thin.
I literally [B]NEEDED[/B] a Otterbox for my smartphone so it achieved a thickness and form that made it comfortable to hold.
It's a phone goddammit, not a extremely wide [I]shiv[/I].
They should make it more fragile to punish people for dropping them.
Holy shit enough of this patenting crap. I'm tired of hearing about this and Apple.
You are on the phone, airbag is triggered. Phone shoots into space and beyond, leaving you with a blown eardrum.
Looks like they patented QWOP too
When I read the title, I imagined someone using their iphone and having an airbag come out of it and smack them in the face. That would be amusing to watch, to say the least.
Otterbox fo' life.
Seriously, it's nearly impossible to damage your phone while it's inside one. Also, if the case breaks, you get a free replacement for LIFE.
Mine broke a few months back (I threw it at the wall, stupid I know), and when I contacted Otterbox to send me a new one, they did so without even asking for proof that I had bought an Otterbox to begin with.
[QUOTE=TestECull;33352803]Or you could, you know, build it a couple mils thicker and not need this in the first place! I'd much rather have a slightly thicker phone that doesn't break when it falls off my table than a slightly thinner one that does.[/QUOTE]
It's not even about thickness. The S2 is thinner than the iPhone 4S. Guess who wins the drop test?
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKxgsrJFhw[/media]
Would love to see a phone with an actual airbag that jumped 50 feet into the air after falling
[QUOTE=latin_geek;33359438]Would love to see a phone with an actual airbag that jumped 50 feet into the air after falling[/QUOTE]
Then fall down again which breaks the screen after all.
[QUOTE=demoguy08;33359177]It's not even about thickness. The S2 is thinner than the iPhone 4S. Guess who wins the drop test?
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKxgsrJFhw[/media][/QUOTE]
"Woooooooaaaaaahhhhhhh"
All smartphones should include safety parachutes
Reminds me of that one bit in one of the Decline of Videogaming Flash parodies that had the PSP deploy a parachute when someone tried to smash it against the ground.
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