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Corning Says Devices With Flexible 'Willow Glass' Displays Unlikely to Appear for at Least Three Years

J

JHankwitz

macrumors 68000
Oct 31, 2005
1,911
58
Wisconsin
MacRumors said:
Corning announced its latest Gorilla Glass 3 product last month, offering three times greater scratch resistance.
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I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around "three times more scratch resistance" Does that mean the scratches will be 1/3rd as deep, or you can rub your diamond ring 3 times as hard before scratching it, or what?

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iGrip said:
Hrrmmmm... So instead of having all-but-invisible micro scratches, you now have a blurry film over the screen.
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I've been usin a single screen protector on my G4 for over 3 years. I cant see any blurry film. If id din, I could easily replace it for a few bucks.

Why don't they just use screen protector material instead of flexible glass?
 
aerok

aerok

macrumors 65816
Oct 29, 2011
1,491
139
laurim said:
Rubbery? Mine feels just like glass. I think you're thinking of something else.
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Well it was 4-5 years ago, I guess they got better. It was Zagg, I remember because they still send me spam lol
 
laurim

laurim

macrumors 68000
Sep 19, 2003
1,985
970
Minnesota USA
aerok said:
Well it was 4-5 years ago, I guess they got better. It was Zagg, I remember because they still send me spam lol
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They advertise it as the same material that coats combat helicopters to keep desert sand from eroding the blades ;)

But, yeah, it's tricky to get on correctly without bubbles but once on, you can't tell it's there.
 
aerok

aerok

macrumors 65816
Oct 29, 2011
1,491
139
laurim said:
They advertise it as the same material that coats combat helicopters to keep desert sand from eroding the blades ;)

But, yeah, it's tricky to get on correctly without bubbles but once on, you can't tell it's there.
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Just checked on the website, they now have ones that have a glass like feeling.
 
T

Tigger92

macrumors member
Sep 22, 2009
77
0
North Carolina
ChrisA said:
So Apple can't use this stuff for a few years. That is understandable because a LCD display is ore than just the glass cover. The rest of the display would need to band as well.

But. I'd buy a sheet of that glass today, just the glass. I think it would be perfect for picture frames. It could be thin so as not to show and if it bends it would not break when you ship it in a UPS box.

Also I'd like to use it as a "finish" laminated to something else. Seems that glass would be durable, chemical resistant and if flexible would be crack if bent. Lots of uses for this stuff right now.
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Willow glass is quite crazy in how flexible it is. I have some sheets of it for development. In fact, I sent a sheet of it to a partner company for testing and they thought it was some sort of plastic substrate instead of glass.

But as for using it for a picture frame glass, it does have some challenges. Whether you can see it or not has all to do with coatings, not how thin it is.

As for a lamination material, while it is very flexible, it will still crack and shatter if the edges have the least bit of microcracks in it.
 
B

bushman4

macrumors 601
Mar 22, 2011
4,026
3,427
Don't count on seeing 'willow Glass' in any smartphone anytime soon...If ever!. Its not practical in todays smartphones and tomorrows smartphones have yet to be developed.
 
dernhelm

dernhelm

macrumors 68000
May 20, 2002
1,649
137
middle earth
dennno said:
Still waiting for completely scratch proof glass. My iPhone 5 has heaps of small scratches on the screen.
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So did you think the glass on your iPhone was going to be completely scratch proof when you got it? Or are you simply holding out hope for Apple or Corning to somehow defy the laws of physics?
 
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