Corning has announced that its third generation Gorilla Glass will be shown off at this year's CES ahead of it turning up in new smart phones to shake off attacks from keys like never before.
The third-generation glass promises to be three times better at resisting scratches thanks to improvements made right down at the molecular level. We've misplaced our electron microscope so we'll have to take their word for it on that.
You might not know the name, but you'll find Corning's Gorilla Glass 2 on the front of the majority of high-end smart phones. The iPhone 5, Galaxy S3 and HTC One X all feature it and benefit from its ability to avoid being scratched and damaged by everyday wear and tear.
After its debut next week at CES in Vegas, expect to find it slathered over the front of all manner of mobile and tablets from the major players.
Exactly how much more burly it is remains to be seen until I get a phone and a set of keys in my hand. If it can remain pristine after weeks of rattling around my pocket with my loose change then I'll be pretty chuffed. Hopefully, it'll also be able to cope better with drops, reducing the number of people you see walking about with depressing and distressing shattered screens.
We're out in force at CES this year so we'll be catching up with Corning and any devices we see its new glass featured in. Head over to our dedicated site to keep up to date on all the latest from the show floor.
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Comments 12
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anonymous 4 January, 2013 13:05
Gorilla glass is very overrated and it's not as scratch resistant as it's made out to be.
Jakee 4 January, 2013 14:13
I disagree with the above comment, my HTC sensation lives one hard life for a phone and the screen is still perfect even after being dropped numerous times over the last year.
anonymous 4 January, 2013 16:16
@Jakee I'm not saying it can't protect its just not as good as they claim and make out. I take exceptional care of my gslll, it never goes in a bag or my back pocket and it never shares a pocket with anything. I always have a screen protector on and went to replace it with another only to discover I could not find my screen protectors lol! So had no choice but to not have a screen protector for 5 days and in them 5 days it picked up very faint scratches hmm! It's good against things like metal like keys and coins but I think things like dust and grit will scratch it quite easily.
samuelc 4 January, 2013 16:33
I don't think Gorilla Glass is overrated at all. In fact thinking about it, I'd say I've vastly underrated it. My HTC Legend used Gorilla Glass and for two years I heavily mistreated it, not giving it a case or screen-protector, and always keeping it in a pocket full of coins, keys and paperclips. It never once got a single scratch.
The same holds true of my S3, the only wear and tear it has is chips to the side of the phone rather than any damage on the screen. I think Gorilla Glass do a great job of protecting phones from careless people like me.
anonymous 4 January, 2013 16:47
Do these guys have a monopoly on the mobile phone glass? I think they need some competition
A Non Mouse 4 January, 2013 18:01
@ anon 16:47.
Nope but like Gore-Tex is to waterproofing, they are the biggest name out there.
flyingacedude 4 January, 2013 20:07
The screen on my S3 smashed after a one meter drop onto a concrete floor, it hasn't got scratched yet though. I guess its a risk you take getting a bugger phone with such a big screen, but still having seen videos of people hammering nales in with the screen I wasn't mega impressed.
anonymous 5 January, 2013 15:17
Its not that scratch proof - I'll admit its good at resisting cracking, but don't kid yourselves that you can keep it in a pocket and expect it to stay scratch free (I've got the official case with the screen cover and even that hasn't helped)
anonymous 5 January, 2013 15:48
@anonymous 15:17 finally someone who understands that it 'can' get scratched quite easily even when taking great care so yes it is overrated. Period!
Dave Phipp 5 January, 2013 18:15
I don't really care about scratch resistance as I always get zagg invisibleshield screen protectors, they are awesome! impact resistance is more important
anonymous 6 January, 2013 15:23
I've got a feeling that the gorilla glass on my S3 isn't really gorilla glass at all, judging by how poorly its stood up to moderate use over the last 6 months, compared to friend's HTC and iphones.
anonymous 6 January, 2013 19:41
To be honest i just cant understand why someone would put such an expensive device in a pocket full of change or keys utter stupidity, i use one pocket for phone and nothing else goes in there and another pocket for junk, but i know a few people who mix and their screens have scratched but not as bad as my misses and brother with their iphone5's they have to be the worst,so much as look at the phone and it scratches and people talk about the quality of apple products,please, theres more quality in the turd i had this morning.....