14 DAY TRIAL // Gorilla Glass would probably be near the rank of an urban legend if its existence weren't beyond all doubt. We wouldn't put it past the newest type of glass to lead to the emergence of a related legend or two though.
Corning showed up on the radar of pretty much every maker of monitors, laptops, tablets and smartphones a few years back, when it launched the first Gorilla Glass.
This type of special glass uses special production technologies that allow the material's molecules to arrange in such a way that endurance is significantly boosted without transparency being affected in the least.
The best type of Gorilla Glass was the third generation, but this has now changed. Corning has formally released Gorilla Glass 4.
The traits of Corning Gorilla Glass 4
It is made using Corning's fusion draw process, which ensures maximum durability and optical clarity while providing the thinness needed by consumer electronics.
That last part is important, because every smartphone and tablet maker, and even monitor and TV producers, are focused on making their products as thin as possible.
The damage resistance is at least twice as good as that of other aluminosilicate glass on the market, being capable of retaining strength after various in-field damage tests.
The devices outfitted with glass were able to survive 80% of the time even when, say, a phone was dropped on its face from up high or down the stairs. More importantly, the glass can survive sharp objects and strong impacts without a scratch pretty easily.
This compared to soda-lime glass, which breaks every time if you drop a commercial device constructed with it.
Admittedly, people usually take good care of their mobile devices. Nevertheless, it's good to know that being jostled while you're working or talking with someone won't result in a screen crack if it causes you to drop the device to the ground.
You should still avoid bashing the screen of your phone with a hammer, but if you drop it from three feet or one meter face-down, it won't crack unless you're really unlucky. Considering the low odds of the phone hitting something perfectly horizontal, you're mostly set no matter what happens.
Applications
Corning wouldn't say what corporations have placed orders for the new Gorilla Glass 4, probably because it would have become an inadvertent leak. Still, we can safely assume that the 40 manufacturers already using Gorilla Glass 3 or older are on the list.
