Corning has a rich history that began in 1851 and spans fromThomas Edisons mous lightbulbsto my moms vorite cookware to glass for automotive consoles.
For all but the most rugged devices, were most likely to see thinner, lighter smartphones with the same level of toughness as the original Gorilla Glass.
Gorilla Glass 2 undergoes much of the same process as regular Gorilla Glass, specifically, anion exchangethat packs a protective layer of larger potassium ions at the glass suce to create stronger compression. With Gorilla Glass 2, Cornings engineers have rearranged the order of the ions and their spacing, in order to encourage greater potassium absorption and therefore innately stronger glass.
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Fellow CNET reviewer Lynn La and I dropped in at Cornings Northern California research cility to get a look at some ofCornings neat projects, past and future. While there, we were invited to break three squares of glass of the same thickness: one standard, one strengthened, and one Gorilla (the original, not the new version).
Cornings customers, vendors like Samsung and HTC, have two choices with Gorilla Glass 2. They can opt to create displays using thinner glass that has the same toughness as the original. Or, they can order Gorilla Glass 2 with the same thickness as before (usually 0.5mm to 2mm) thats 20 percent tougher.
The Samsung Galaxy Note has a layer of Gorilla Glass backing its 5.3-inch screen.
First of all, theres the glass itself. Gorilla Glass is a special type of chemically strengthened material (an alumengineering schools Is Gorilla Glass on a smartphone really all that?inosilicate for you material science geeks out there) thats processed in such a way as to resist scratches and other suce dings. It also withstands greater compression than standard glass, which means you have to press it (or drop it) harder to damage it.
engineering schools Is Gorilla Glass on a smartphone really all that?,Since Gorilla Glass covers some of the mostpremium smartphones--including theHTC Evo 4G,Samsung Galaxy S II, andMotorola Droid Razr--I wanted to take a closer look at what the material can offer phone owners.
So how tough is it?
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Gorilla Glass is used in all manner of electronics, includingtabletsandlaptops, but a product like this makes especially good sense in smartphones, which have high drop rates and need better shielding.
I was handed a small metal prod for applying force to the glass at its center. Each sample was indeed progressively harder to fracture with that tool, and I was unable to break the stronger Gorilla Glass this way. (Of course, this was a carefully engineered push test designed to reduce the force and leverage I could apply to the material. The glass, while resistant, isbreakable.)
Jessica DolcourtJessica Dolcourt pits phone against phone in the ongoing epic battle of the latest and greatest smartphones. Before that, she sat in judgment of smartphone and desktop apps. In her personal life, Jessica remains tireless in her quest for the worlds most perfect cheese.
A few weeks ago atCES, Corning announced that its next generation of glass suces will deliverthinner, stronger touch screens.
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A thinner glass layer can also make for a more responsive and colorful screen overall.
Corning&39;s Gorilla Glass is certainly stronger than the typical stuff.
