Disclosure: I own a small number of Apple shares.
Have you ever shattered your Apple iPhone screen before? It is very unpleasant to see your device — which is worth hundreds of dollars — shatter in the blink of an eye after making a silly mistake. Fortunately, Apple is working on several ideas to make iPhones resistant to shattering.
Apple has recently patented an idea where retractable bumpers automatically trigger if a device starts to fall. The patent is titled “Active screen protection for electronic device” and it was filed by Tyson Manullang, a mechanical engineer at Apple.
How would it work? A sensor in the device would be able to detect a drop event and then screen protectors move from the retracted to the extended position. The bumper would become the shock absorber and prevent the screen from hitting the surface. Hypothetically, the screen protectors could be multiple tabs that move between the retracted and extended positions by motors or pinions. The patent says that those tabs could be made of materials like plastic, polyethylene terephthalate or metal.

from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/1Wm0L0M
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