Cell phones are filthy. I wrote about portable petri dishes back in November 2012. CNET found that 75% of Americans use their mobile phones in the bathroom to make calls, text, and play with apps. Your mobile phone carries more germs than a toilet seat. There is speculation that they have even spread Ebola. Now, thankfully, Corning has your back.
at Gizmodo noted that global glass maker Corning (GLW) is trying to save us all from our bad habits. He reports that the newest revision of Gorilla Glass is more resilient and kills pesky germs all by itself. Gorilla Glass covers 1.5 billion mobile phones worldwide, including all Apple (AAPL) iPhones.
Corning discussed its upcoming display tech at the MIT Mobile Technology Summit. The antimicrobial coating on the new glass can kill virtually all nasty microbes on the screen’s surface over a course of two hours. It’s not instantaneous, but it’s way better than having a pocket petri dish, Mr. Limer observed.
Signe Brewster at GigaOM wrote that during the presentation, Corning senior vice president Jeff Evenson reported that the company is working on glass that kills viruses and germs — even the drug-resistant variety. GigaOM says that the VP noted a study that found smartphones carry more microbes than the average public toilet. He displayed how the glass kills microbes over time with slides depicting them as bright green dots. After two hours, the antimicrobial glass had a million times fewer bacteria than standard phone glass. Corning’s Evenson said
“You’re eating your sandwich at your desk. Your smartphone rings. You answer it. You complete the call, put your smartphone down and you go back to eating your sandwich with the same hand. Which piece of glass do you want on that device?”
Gizmodo reports that Corning said the antimicrobial displays will be available sometime in the next two years.
And that’s not all, either. GigaOM’s Brewster also reports that Corning is developing a new transparency treatment that will make the next revision of Gorilla Glass tens of times more transparent than purified water. This should result in seeing your phone in broad daylight is about to get way easier.
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Until Corning releases Gorilla Glass 3, washing your hands is a good idea, and licking your iPhone screen is probably a bad idea. In order to clean your iPhone, Apple recommends:
To clean iPhone, unplug all cables and turn off iPhone (press and hold the Sleep/Wake button, and then slide the onscreen slider). Use a soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth. Avoid getting moisture in openings. Don’t use window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, alcohol, ammonia, or abrasives to clean your iPhone. The front and back glass surfaces have an oleophobic coating. Simply wipe these surfaces with a soft, lint-free cloth to remove fingerprints. This coating’s ability to repel oil will diminish over time with normal usage, and rubbing the screen with an abrasive material will further diminish its effect and may scratch the glass.
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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.