Almost every smartphone on the planet employs Corning Gorilla Glass for its front panel. The exceedingly tough glass resists damage like nothing else, but it’s still not good enough for the folks at Corning. At CES 2013, the company announced that its strengthened its hallmark Gorilla Glass even more.
Corning announced today that Gorilla Glass 3 is coming to a smartphone near you in mid-2013. The updated glass is being touted as having “native damage resistance” which helps protect a devices display from deep scratches and cracks. The glass should also hold up much better even if you do manage the scratch the screen.
“As a world leader in glass innovation, we are dedicated to meeting the needs of our customers with our product innovation,” said James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Specialty Materials. “While we’ve optimized our glass with the most robust chemical strengthening, we challenged our research teams to develop a new way to make cover glass even less susceptible to scratches and other damage.”
Steiner went on to say that Corning’s scientists “went to the atomic structure of the glass to fundamentally improve the way the glass responds to an impact or scratch.” Their work resulted in a much tougher glass that still remains thin for all the smartphones that require it.
Corning says that its currently in talks with its global partners, and the company expects Gorilla Glass 3 to start showing up in smartphones in mid-2013. The iPhone 5S and Galaxy SIV may just be the first phones to feature the new and improved glass.