We've all been there. You reach into your pocket, slowly pull out your iPhone, only to lose your grip and send your phone flying. Bang. It lands face down. You pick up the phone, turn it over and there's a new crack.
Apple Insider reports Apple is developing mobile technology to protect our cellphones from damage after an accidental drop or fall. The in-phone system would detect when the device is falling and shift the phone's center of mass to ensure it lands safely, according to Apple's patent application for the "protective mechanism for an electronic device" submitted this week.
The protective mechanism will protect "more vulnerable" parts of the phone -- mainly the glass screen. After detecting the free fall, the system will change how the object is falling and how it lands. One idea involves deploying "gas outside the device to change its orientation." Another includes activating an air foil to reduce the "velocity of the free fall." We can't wait for invincible iPhones of the future.
[via Apple Insider]
