With the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 marking Apple and Samsung out as current leaders of the smartphone scene, industry experts have suggested future handsets from the two companies could feature unbreakable displays.
Telling TrustedReviews to “watch this space,” handset protection experts have hinted that the displays of future phones could integrate impact protection polymers which absorb impacts, spreading the force across the full surface of the device, dramatically reducing breakage rates.
With the Sony Xperia Z having recently introduced water and dust proofing to a slimline, aesthetically pleasing flagship phone, case and impact protection specialist Tech21 has claimed future Apple and Samsung devices could take this a step further with potentially ‘unbreakable’ screens.
Although not introducing a new, toughened glass screen type outright, Jason Roberts, CEO and Founder of Tech21 has hinted that impact protection polymers could be built directly into the display panels of future phones, with Apple and Samsung two potential implementers of such technologies.
With impact protection screen overlays currently available as optional extras for the likes of the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 through the Tech21 Impact Shield, Roberts teased: “Taking our unique polymers to the next stage [integrating it into the manufacturing of phones] is an interesting dynamic, and just watch this space is what I would say.”
Hinting that Apple and Samsung could be amongst the first to implement such features, he added: “We are the only impact protection brand in Apple globally. We are the only impact protection with Samsung globally.
Suggesting that the current trend for ever larger screen sizes could help push manufacturers to integrate impact protection polymers in the manufacturing process, Roberts added: “I don’t know the roadmaps for all of these manufacturers, but it seems that the screens are getting bigger as we are having a mixture between tablet and phone and they are trying to fill the gap there.
“If you’re using glass, glass fractures. It doesn’t matter what type of toughened glass you are using, every piece of glass is unique and there will be tiny fractures in that glass, so some glass breaks quite easily and some glass breaks a lot harder.”
