Gorilla Glass 2.0: Stronger, Thinner, Lighter

Corning introduced the new material at CES yesterday, saying that newfound strength lets screens be made 20 percent thinner. That, in turn, can improve brightness, touch response, and of course device thickness.
I also hope the thinner glass will effectively bring text and graphics closer to the surface of smartphones, something I find makes them much easier to use since my eye isn't as distracted by multiple layers of visual information.
"Product qualification and design implementation for Corning Gorilla Glass 2 are under way with Corning's global customers, a number of whom are expected to unveil new devices using Corning Gorilla Glass 2 during the coming months," Corning said in a statement.
Gorilla Glass, though developed decades ago, only came into its own five years ago on devices such as the first-generation iPhone. Its strength and scratch resistance also have attracted customers building tablets, newer smartphones, TVs, and now even PCs such as the new HP Envy 14 Spectre.
Corning won an endorsement for the technology from Microsoft, which is making a major push into touch-screen PCs and tablets with Windows 8, set to debut later this year.


With glass that is 20 percent thinner, device manufacturers can develop sleeker touchscreen gadgets like smartphones, tablets, and laptops -- like the coming explosion of ultrabooks. Microsoft is excited about the prospects of Gorilla Glass 2.0 for use in the broad range of devices it has planned for Windows 8, and future iterations of Windows Phone.


Mobile devices that are designed to be used on the go need all the durability they can get. Once you leave the relative safety of your office or home, and venture out into the world, the odds that you will drop, bang, ding, or scratch your gadgets increases exponentially.


Five years ago, the Apple iPhone launched the Gorilla Glass renaissance. There is some debate as to whether or not current iPhone models still use it or not. The Corning site lists devices that use Gorilla Glass, but states up front that there are non-disclosure agreements in place with some vendors that prohibit it from naming them. That sounds like something Apple would do. All I know is I have dropped my iPhone 4S four times in the past week, and it doesn’t have a scratch.


Corning claims the super strong glass is used in nearly 600 different products, and it expects 2011 revenue from Gorilla Glass to top $700 million.