Corning demonstrates the power of Gorilla Glass 2 at CES 2012

By Leanna Lofte
last updated

Corning's new Gorilla Glass 2 is stronger, slimmer, and better than ever and has demonstrated this live at CES 2012. After having a volunteer break a few different types of glass and unsuccessfully attempt to break the original Gorilla Glass, the host had his assistant show that this 1.0mm piece could withstand at least 121 pounds of pressure (just shy of the breaking point of the glass). You may find this impressive enough, but Corning wowed the audience when a piece of 0.8mm (20% thinner) Gorrilla Glass 2 was also able to withstand 121 pounds. Thin is in - and it's strong.

Leanna Lofte
Leanna Lofte

Former app and photography editor at iMore, Leanna has since moved on to other endeavors. Mother, wife, mathamagician, even though she no longer writes for iMore you can still follow her on Twitter @llofte.

6 Comments
  • I agree that it is stronger (and thinner). But I hate the fact that the last guy purposely used enough force to get to 120ish. You can see him struggling to not overshoot that mark.
    Still, it is stronger for sure. What I'd like to see is how it handles rapid force changes rather than the gradual force applied in this demo. When my phone drops, it won't be under "gradually increasing pressure"; it will be a sudden change.
  • Of course he's trying not to overshoot it -- the point is to show the minimal pressure required to break the glass. If he put all his weight into it and it broke at a higher number, that would mislead people into thinking it's even stronger.
  • Who cares about lab tests. If you drop a phone on the concrete and it survives, pass otherwise FAIL. Also, will they provide free replacement if it breaks? In not, FAIL.
    Who cares if it is thinner if you need to put a big ass case on your $600 phone to protect it.
  • For what I use my phone for as a person and a professional I don't care about the aesthetics of a phone, but the functionality. I have an iPhone 4 protected by the Otterbox Defender. Best damn case in my opinion, it's survived being thrown at people from across the room in anger and in durability demonstration and I've had friends drop them from the top of 4x4 fire engines, run over them in their cars (some of my friends are pretty careless sometimes), I've dropped mine from about 6 feet off the ground. Point is, as long as I have an awesome and functional phone and as long as it fits in my pocket or has a holster, it could look like piece of roadkill to me.
  • Yeah, and how strong is it from a side impact? That's how the phones usually hit, and my recollection is that was the weak point on Gorilla Glass in the past.
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