Apple was awarded a patent today that uses gyroscopes, accelerometers, GPS, and a "protective mechanism" to protect iPhones from damage when they fall.
Their patent details a protection system that can recognize when an iPhone is in free fall. It'll calculate a point of impact and adjust the phone to its center of gravity to protect its sensitive components, like its glass screen or camera. The iPhone should be able to shift itself by using its inner vibration motor and processor. But that's not all. Apple is also looking into other ways to protect devices. This includes a gas canister, or "thrust mechanism," which will change the phone's orientation midair. Apple's latest batch of iPhones are an example of how technology is increasingly getting bigger, slimmer and rounder. Aside from allegedly bending easily, these features also make the devices a little less grip-friendly.
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As Gizmodo points out, Amazon patented an air-bag system three years ago to protect smartphones, and that still hasn't seen the light of day. Companies routinely patent radical ideas that may never be realized. Hopefully this one will make it to iOS one day. Cross your (butter) fingers.
