Corning may not be a household name in the world of smartphones but its Gorilla Glass technology can be found on billions of smartphones across the globe. First introduced in 2011 and now in its fifth generation, it has protected more than than 1,800 different devices from 40 major brands. Corning announced today that wearables will now also be able to benefit from similar protection. Corning Gorilla Glass SR+ is designed specifically for wearable devices and promises to significantly reduce scratches “while delivering the toughness, optical clarity and touch sensitivity that make Gorilla Glass famous.”
“In early 2015, Corning launched Project Phire with the goal of engineering glass-based solutions with the scratch resistance approaching luxury cover materials, combined with the superior damage resistance of Gorilla Glass,” said Scott Forester, director, innovation products, Corning Gorilla Glass. “Corning Gorilla Glass SR+ delivers a superior combination of properties that is not available in any other material today – it is in a class of its own.”
The new glass composite is designed to better withstand the bumps, knocks and scrapes wearables encounter every day while improving outdoor readability and maintaining touch sensitivity required for on-the-go connectivity. Lab tests found that Gorilla Glass SR+ delivered 70 percent better damage protection against impact and 25 percent better surface protection than alternative luxury cover materials.
Corning did not announce what future wearables will come with Gorilla Glass SR+. With IFA 2016 just around the corner with a slew of expected wearable announcements, it may not be too long before we know such details. It’s also possible that it will make its way onto the next Apple Watch which will be unveiled on September 7th.
Source : Corning