Corning plans to light Phire on display covers

(Phys.org) —Scratches on the smartphone display cover and phone drops on the pavement are two dreaded events that put a damper on any pleasure that comes from owning a sleek, feature-rich phone. The word "Gorilla" was a successful choice of a name that bolsters the perception of glass standing up to damages.

Ben Fox Rubin in CNET said on Friday that Corning's Gorilla Glass has been an important growth area for the company. (Corning said in November that, since its launch in 2007, Gorilla Glass has been featured in more than 3 billion devices.) Rubin was calling attention to the importance of Gorilla Glass to the company for a special reason. Corning, in the front lines in glass for mobile devices, is now up to more innovations and has a scratch-resistant glass material which, he said, the company plans to start selling later this year.

"Project Phire" is all about the new material, which was noted on Friday, at a New York investor meeting by Corning executive James Clappin, said CNET. Smartphone users already know that Gorilla Glass displays can be seen on phones, from Apple and Samsung. The new material, said Rubin, "combines the toughness of Gorilla with a scratch-resistance that comes close to sapphire." The best of both worlds—avoiding scratches and shatters— was pursued. Gorilla Glass 4 has been considered great for "drop" performance, while the Corning display cover reported on CNET will be both highly damage-resistant and scratch-resistant. In November, Corning further showed its glass display clout with its introduction of Gorilla Glass 4, addressing the threat of accidental drops. Its announcement was headlined, "Corning Redefines the Standard in Damage Resistance With Gorilla Glass 4." Scientists developed drop-test methods that simulated real-world break events, based on thousands of hours analyzing cover glass that had broken in the field or lab. The scientists used the new methods to drop devices face down from one meter, such that the cover glass made direct contact with a rough surface. They said that Gorilla Glass 4 was up to two times tougher than competitive glasses and that Gorilla Glass 4 survived up to 80 percent of the time.

A MarketWatch report on Friday's investor meeting quoted Clappin, president of Corning Glass Technologies, talking about his group, comprising display technologies and specialty materials segments. "Since it was introduced in 2007, Corning Gorilla Glass has defined innovation in the cover glass market," Clappin said. Corning's continued advancements in cover glass technologies include Gorilla Glass 4 as well as glass material enhancements for improved scratch-resistance, 3D shaping, and several other surface capabilities. "We have developed a new product that will provide sapphire-like scratch resistance while maintaining the legendary toughness and break resistance of Gorilla Glass," he added.

Rubin in CNET remarked that Project Phire could help Corning snag more of the smartwatch market.

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