Gorilla Glass 4 and a new motion sensor might be the thing that saves your iOS devices from nicks, dents and scratches in the future.
Per Macworld and Forbes, Apple has recently published a patent that covers a “protective mechanism for an electronic device” that would use a motion sensor to tell the processor when your phone is in a freefall. The processor would then “alter the center of mass of the electronic device” so your phone wouldn’t fall on its most sensitive parts like the screen or camera.
“The protective mechanism may vary the angular momentum and/or orientation of the device during freefall by activating a thrust mechanism. The thrust mechanism may produce a thrust force in one or multiple directions in order to reorient the device. For example, the thrust mechanism may include a gas canister that may deploy the compressed gas outside of the device to change its orientation. In yet another example, the protective mechanism may activate an air foil to change the aerodynamics of the mobile electronic device. The air foil may help to reduce a velocity of the free-fall of the device by producing a lift force.”
The patent also covers a gripping mechanism in the audio port that would tighten around your headphones to slow the phone’s fall.
No one know whether this patent will come to fruition, but it’s an interesting idea.
As always, let us know what you think in the comments.