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Liquidmetal's Manufacturing Process Promises Rapid, Low-Cost Fabrication

I'm a bit confused by this statement:

Cult of Mac, which reported last week that the iPhone 3G's SIM card removal tool was made out of the technology as a test of Liquidmetal's capabilities
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Seeing how the only 'SIM Card Removal Tool' Apple has ever sent me for my iPhone (1st Gen), iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3G-S has been a paper-clip... it's always been a standing joke with iPhone's that the 'SIM Card Removal Tool' has been a paper-clip. So, I can only assume this company makes good paper-clips???
 
BW of Palo Alto said:
Does anyone know how this material works as an antenna? Something tells me that its structure may not make it the best iPhone case material since they use the case as the antenna. My vote is for it to be on a mac book, mac mini, or new iTV before it shows up on the iPhone.
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I haven't been able to find electrical data on Liquid Metal, but I would expect it to have conductivity comparable to most metals, but poor compared to the really good conductors like copper and aluminum. It doesn't need to be a particularly good conductor to make an antenna, and Apple could plate it with a layer of copper and it would definitely be good enough then.
 
PsudoPowerPoint said:
The Liquid Metal folks claim to have a new alloy that doesn't have the brittleness demonstrated by their ill fated golf clubs. Check out the little SIM removal tool Apple shipped with the iPhone 3G, it's supposed to be liquid metal. I have mine here in my desk, I can bend it a long way without it breaking, and it then it springs back to its original shape. It also has a very nice surface finish, all in all, it should be a good material for a case.
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sounds awesome, how well does it bounce?

@BW of Palo Alto; they used it once as the case antenna for a phone and people raved about its reception so it shouldn't be a problem
 
Apple Corps said:
In a democracy, the population gets the government it elects / deserves.
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Yes, but the United States are not a democracy - and haven't been since day one.

I wish that more people understood that - we'd be so much better off. (see my .sig)

(By the way, some of the purer democracies can be even more messed up than the US! California is a prime example.)
 
Salacion said:
I've been saying this, and I'll say it once more. iPhone 5 will BE the end-all iPhone. I think.
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I can see that! Since it will FINALLY be on multiple networks in the U.S.A. and will likely be a 4G world phone. FINALLY Android will be hurt! The only reason Android has gotten as significant as it is, is because people that would have gotten an iPhone didn't have the choice!

I see Apple using this metal in basically ALL their products though! They wouldn't have spent so much for an exclusive license if they didn't plan on it. Stronger, more customizable, faster production, cheaper production, exclusivity, amazing quality, precision... GOOD DEAL APPLE! :)

AidenShaw said:
Yes, but the United States are not a democracy - and haven't been since day one.

I wish that more people understood that - we'd be so much better off.
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It makes you wonder when the last time people said the pledge of allegiance was "...and to the REPUBLIC for which is stands"! However the country has turned into an uneducated democracy which is the problem! Most citizens think we are a democracy and couldn't even tell you the difference between the two! Sad! :(
 
MacFly123 said:
I can see that! Since it will FINALLY be on multiple networks in the U.S.A. and will likely be a 4G world phone. FINALLY Android will be hurt! The only reason Android has gotten as significant as it is, is because people that would have gotten an iPhone didn't have the choice!

I see Apple using this metal in basically ALL their products though! They wouldn't have spent so much for an exclusive license if they didn't plan on it. Stronger, more customizable, faster production, cheaper production, exclusivity, amazing quality, precision... GOOD DEAL APPLE! :)



It makes you wonder when the last time people said the pledge of allegiance was "...and to the REPUBLIC for which is stands"! However the country has turned into an uneducated democracy which is the problem! Most citizens think we are a democracy and couldn't even tell you the difference between the two! Sad! :(
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The Corporations own this country. Proof? Looks whos on Apples Board.
 
In theory I guess we are a constitutional or federal republic.

In practice we put the idiots in office that are destroying the country because they give too many of us what we demand.

There is so much wiggle room in how the constitution is interpreted that it has become warped by the political pressures & norms of the time.

Call it what you want - we put the pressure on the clowns and they deliver garbage to keep in office.

Oh well - hope Liquid Metal and Apple work some magic.
 
SSDGUY said:
Oh man, that's just what I've been waiting for. :rolleyes:
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You forgot to mention the anti-gravity unit that engages when the iPhone is dropped. The accelerometer recognizes free-fall and the nearby gravity field is canceled out. The iPhone floats to the ground unharmed. The recent work in low power, electro-gravitics is quite impressive.
 
CaoCao said:
sounds awesome, how well does it bounce?

@BW of Palo Alto; they used it once as the case antenna for a phone and people raved about its reception so it shouldn't be a problem
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Wrong question... what we want to know is...

Does it blend???:eek:
 
Oh, it WILL blend

Shagrat said:
Wrong question... what we want to know is...

Does it blend???:eek:
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LOL! A pure Liquidmetal enclosure on the next iPhone would help it last maybe 2.5 seconds longer in a BlendTec Total Blender. 1560 watts (or 2.1 horsepower) + stainless steel blade + iPhone (even with Liquidmetal) = fine black powder with metallic chunks.
 
Could allow for a super-thin MacBook Air

Aluminum alloy is fine for the regular MacBook (although machining the enclosure out of a billet is time-consuming, and time equals money in manufacturing.) But the MacBook Air needs something better. Its aluminum enclosure is already eggshell-thin. That makes it less robust than the MacBook Pro.

Using Liquidmetal could allow Apple to create an even thinner metal case for the next MBA with equal or better strength. Why the MBA first? Because it already has a premium price. It's Apple's "executive laptop" and any if the Liquidmetal manufacturing process is a little more expensive at first, then Apple won't necessarily need to increase the MBA's price to maintain their margins.

And, as manufacturing costs come down due to the fast "one step" process, Liquidmetal could be used on other Apple products as well. Everything from Mac Pro to iPod Shuffle. That would be cool.
 
AtHomeBoy_2000 said:
"The cost savings are tremendous"

Naturally this wont be reflected in a products price I suspect.
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No Apple builds to price points any cost saving in one area allows better features in another.

or they get costs down enough in enough areas to release a new product at it's own price point.
 
Well looks like those years of free prototypes for Apple are definitely paying off.
 
skeep5 said:
this is super awesome. soon they'll be molding 747's with one squirt.
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So shortsighted. 747s are now obsolete. By November we'll have houses that sit 500 feet in the air on liquidmetal alloy columns. Next March, we'll all be able to buy our own flying cars that will run on a mixture of water with two drops of Dawn dishwashing detergent per gallon. Of course, you'll need to connect them to iTunes to start them.

"Jane, get me off this crazy thing." Uh-oh Reorge!!
 
Apple is rather slow though

mr.steevo said:
But given that Apple releases a phone only once a year...

s.
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Apple makes fewer versions of all of their products than any other manufacturer. OK, so they are not the manufacturer, just the designer. Maybe this will help them be able to produce a CDM phone just like everyone else. As you say Apple has one new design a year while everyone else has several. But Apple needs a higher profit margin than everyone else does.
 
SockRolid said:
Aluminum alloy is fine for the regular MacBook (although machining the enclosure out of a billet is time-consuming, and time equals money in manufacturing.) But the MacBook Air needs something better. Its aluminum enclosure is already eggshell-thin. That makes it less robust than the MacBook Pro.

Using Liquidmetal could allow Apple to create an even thinner metal case for the next MBA with equal or better strength. Why the MBA first? Because it already has a premium price. It's Apple's "executive laptop" and any if the Liquidmetal manufacturing process is a little more expensive at first, then Apple won't necessarily need to increase the MBA's price to maintain their margins.

And, as manufacturing costs come down due to the fast "one step" process, Liquidmetal could be used on other Apple products as well. Everything from Mac Pro to iPod Shuffle. That would be cool.
Click to expand...
They will probably use the MacBook Air first because isn't it the MacBook Pro Guinea Pig?
 
imgmkr said:
according to tech news back in 2003, Samsung started to consider Liquid Metal to fab mobile phone casing. so they might have the prototype machine in Korea.
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It would be interesting if it was LG. Seeing as the Prada phone came out before the iPhone and now this :)
 
Mattie Num Nums said:
It would be interesting if it was LG. Seeing as the Prada phone came out before the iPhone and now this :)
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Prada Phone? Another bizarre thing of the planet like Venezuela more dangerous than Iraq and Cuba having more diverse opinions in its congress than the US despite being a dictatorship
 
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