There’s always that one tiny moment where the iPhone slips away from your hand while doing a gesture or just while handling and that is when it falls flat on its screen resulting in spider-web like hairline cracks. We all fear that moment as not only will it keep your iPhone away from you at the service centre for some days, but it will also burn a hole in your pocket.
Apple has come up with a solution to it. The US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent yesterday (2/12/2014) that would change the iPhone’s angle while falling on the ground and protect its sensitive screens. Basically, it will make the iPhone fall in a similar way a cat falls. A cat is famous for its righting reflex which helps it to orient itself mid-flight so that it lands on its feet and does not injure itself. It does so by possessing an unusually flexible backbone.
Apple plans to do a similar righting reflex by incorporating a combination of gyroscopes, accelerometers, and the secret ingredient which is a “protective mechanism”. The protective mechanism would be used to analyse the phones angle while falling and accordingly adjust itself. The device would then use an onboard motor and processor to reorient itself and protect its fragile screen. If this sounds something unimaginable and a little weird to you, then you should know that Jeff Bezos wanted to put tiny little airbags in your smartphone!
You can read more in-depth about the patent, Apple recieved over here. Apart from being explained properly, it also includes some other cool concepts. Like, The patent suggests that the iPhones would also incorporate a gripping mechanism in the audio port that would tighten around your headphones to slowdown the fall.
The iPhone Help
The iPhone Help