Some interesting properties of the material I have found in a few minutes of looking:
- It's "bouncy" and objects made of it will flex or bounce before they break or deform.
- It can be made "transparent like glass" and in some instances is referred to as "metallic glass."
If that's true, it could very well make the next iPhone practically indestructible if used for the front and back plates. If the iPhone/iPod antenna is the metallic band and the back and front were this stuff, you'd get great signal reception combined with much higher resistance to breaking.
Bouncy? Made transparent like glass? I would be curious what sort of metals or metal alloys have achieved this. At least, I have not encountered any so far. Will be very informative.
Years from now we'll look back and mark this as another Apple milestone. It demonstrates the company's creative vision and capability to refine new engineered materials and manufacturing technologies and processes into future product game-changers. In addition to wholly new products, advanced materials will refresh existing products. The MBPs, iPods, iPhones and iPads five years from now are likely to be strikingly different from those today in both form and function.
Years from now we'll look back and mark this as another Apple milestone. It demonstrates the company's creative vision and capability to refine new engineered materials and manufacturing technologies and processes into future product game-changers. In addition to wholly new products, advanced materials will refresh existing products. The MBPs, iPods, iPhones and iPads five years from now are likely to be strikingly different from those today in both form and function.
Don't forget ceramics (which can also be made conductive or non conductive, and are naturally lightweight), and metallic/ceramic materials. Fiberglass has already given way to carbon-fiber, and nano-tube materials and fabrics are already finding their way into products. Materials science is fascinating, and is rapidly evolving, and in the area of quantum computing, they are investigating new materials all the time, some of which will undoubtedly make their way into our lives.
Everything is liquid at the right temperature and pressure. Mercury is the only liquid metal at room temperature and standard pressure. So I don't know where you're going with this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rbonner
How about Appleonium.
Nice! Except it sounds like a Greek princess, or that girl from the Godfather.
This is a tiny company, with a market cap of less than $25M. I wonder why Apple did not buy it outright for the whole nine yards, and not just a piece of the IP.
Heck, Mark Hurd could have bought it with just a portion of his severance payment.....
LOL re: Hurd.
As to why Apple couldn't buy them: I'm guessing they weren't for sale... not every company behaves Oracle or Microsoft.
I've worn a tungsten ring for 6 years now, and it's virtually scratch proof. I've taken off the ring and scratched it as hard as I can on cement, brick, metal files, anything.. and still not a scratch on it.
If this liquid metal stuff is more wear resistant than tungsten carbide, I would be flabbergasted. All I can say is I love my AAPL stock.
Hint: tungsten and tungsten carbide are not the same thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody
I agree.
Some interesting properties of the material I have found in a few minutes of looking:
- It's "bouncy" and objects made of it will flex or bounce before they break or deform.
- It can be made "transparent like glass" and in some instances is referred to as "metallic glass."
If that's true, it could very well make the next iPhone practically indestructible if used for the front and back plates. If the iPhone/iPod antenna is the metallic band and the back and front were this stuff, you'd get great signal reception combined with much higher resistance to breaking.
Not for the front glass. Liquidmetal is conductive, so the touchscreen wouldn't work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
Apple can't cancel any contracts Liquidmetal has with others, as they don't own the company. I would imagine that as that phone goes out of production, no more of those products by anyone other that Apple will be allowed.
No, but the agreement could have called for the patent owners to cancel any existing contracts.
I've worn a tungsten ring for 6 years now, and it's virtually scratch proof. I've taken off the ring and scratched it as hard as I can on cement, brick, metal files, anything.. and still not a scratch on it.
If this liquid metal stuff is more wear resistant than tungsten carbide, I would be flabbergasted
Tungsten and tungsten carbide may be too heavy, and costly?
Bouncy? Made transparent like glass? I would be curious what sort of metals or metal alloys have achieved this. At least, I have not encountered any so far. Will be very informative.
.
CGC
Others have already pointed out that it is also conductive material so it probably wouldn't work for the front glass, but the bouncy-ness of this stuff is scary-weird. Kind of like flubber almost.
Not sure this would have anything to do with the iPhone. I see this as more related to MBP cases. iPhone seems to be going in a different direction using more glass then metal.
It will most certainly deal with iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, Xserve, AppleTV, etc. There is a lot this adds to durability, elasticity and deformation shock of impact available to this non-crystalline metal.
It will most certainly deal with iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, Xserve, AppleTV, etc. There is a lot this adds to durability, elasticity and deformation shock of impact available to this non-crystalline metal.
Well really we can be certain about anything. While I am not a metal expert by any means one would have to know how well this metal displaces heat. Something Apple hardware tends to have a problem with already.
No, but the agreement could have called for the patent owners to cancel any existing contracts.
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties. Unless there is some clause in the contract that gives less than all parties the right to opt out, or cancel, usually for some specific reason mentioned in the contract, all parties must agree.
Apple hasn't purchased the company, so that isn't an opt out cause. Liquidmetal did set up a company to manage tne licenses, and that company is what Apple is dealing with here. It's also licensing back to the parent company licensing agreements for all other uses.
But they can't simply say that they've licensed this to Apple and so all other contracts are null and void. There were times in business when I would have loved to do that, but I couldn't.
Others have already pointed out that it is also conductive material so it probably wouldn't work for the front glass, but the bouncy-ness of this stuff is scary-weird. Kind of like flubber almost.
From the video, the steel balls dropped on the flat surface of the metal were the ones bouncing -- to demonstrate transfer of stored kinetic energy on the surface of the three metals used. I doubt that an Apple iPhone using the material as casing will make the phone bouncy.
Conductivity of a material per se does not have to disqualify its use for the front material. Glass itself is conductive, e.g., heat conductive. It is the ability and efficiency of certain metal alloys to conduct electricity that may affect (disqualify) their potential use for the front screen.
At least for the screen, it requires transparency. Any image of a transparent form of the product?
Don't forget ceramics (which can also be made conductive or non conductive, and are naturally lightweight), and metallic/ceramic materials. Fiberglass has already given way to carbon-fiber, and nano-tube materials and fabrics are already finding their way into products. Materials science is fascinating, and is rapidly evolving, and in the area of quantum computing, they are investigating new materials all the time, some of which will undoubtedly make their way into our lives.
But on the other hand, you have people echoing that line from Star Trek "you can't change the laws of physics". This was also used as an excuse for why aluminum Powerbook G4s and original MacBook Pros were so difficult to take apart and service.
Apple should not make laptops easier to service. Making a laptop easy to service would make it impossibly large and heavy. Never mind the fact that the unibody MacBook Pros are thinner, lighter and easier to service than the original MacBook Pro.
Comments
Hey, maybe Arnie can get a job soon as a spokes-terminator for Apple, touting the benefits of his new poly-alloy Apple core.
Or tout the benefits of an Apple electric car (the Kali-fornicator special) (sorry bout that).
Ahll be baack, after these messages from Apple.
Maybe it's just the kid in me, but when I think poly-alloy Apple core, I don't think Terminator, I think Wall-E.
I agree.
Some interesting properties of the material I have found in a few minutes of looking:
- It's "bouncy" and objects made of it will flex or bounce before they break or deform.
- It can be made "transparent like glass" and in some instances is referred to as "metallic glass."
If that's true, it could very well make the next iPhone practically indestructible if used for the front and back plates. If the iPhone/iPod antenna is the metallic band and the back and front were this stuff, you'd get great signal reception combined with much higher resistance to breaking.
Bouncy? Made transparent like glass? I would be curious what sort of metals or metal alloys have achieved this. At least, I have not encountered any so far. Will be very informative.
.
CGC
Or is it adamantium?
LOL
Years from now we'll look back and mark this as another Apple milestone. It demonstrates the company's creative vision and capability to refine new engineered materials and manufacturing technologies and processes into future product game-changers. In addition to wholly new products, advanced materials will refresh existing products. The MBPs, iPods, iPhones and iPads five years from now are likely to be strikingly different from those today in both form and function.
nice post
by the by
all metals are liquid
Gotta love that 'innovation'...
Simply amazing!
http://www.liquidmetal.com/index/
NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/tec...quidmetal.html
From the NASA article:
Now it is being considered by the U.S. Department of Defense as an armor and anti-armor material.
nice post
by the by
all metals are liquid
Everything is liquid at the right temperature and pressure. Mercury is the only liquid metal at room temperature and standard pressure. So I don't know where you're going with this.
How about Appleonium.
Nice! Except it sounds like a Greek princess, or that girl from the Godfather.
This is a tiny company, with a market cap of less than $25M. I wonder why Apple did not buy it outright for the whole nine yards, and not just a piece of the IP.
Heck, Mark Hurd could have bought it with just a portion of his severance payment.....
LOL re: Hurd.
As to why Apple couldn't buy them: I'm guessing they weren't for sale... not every company behaves Oracle or Microsoft.
I've worn a tungsten ring for 6 years now, and it's virtually scratch proof. I've taken off the ring and scratched it as hard as I can on cement, brick, metal files, anything.. and still not a scratch on it.
If this liquid metal stuff is more wear resistant than tungsten carbide, I would be flabbergasted. All I can say is I love my AAPL stock.
Hint: tungsten and tungsten carbide are not the same thing.
I agree.
Some interesting properties of the material I have found in a few minutes of looking:
- It's "bouncy" and objects made of it will flex or bounce before they break or deform.
- It can be made "transparent like glass" and in some instances is referred to as "metallic glass."
If that's true, it could very well make the next iPhone practically indestructible if used for the front and back plates. If the iPhone/iPod antenna is the metallic band and the back and front were this stuff, you'd get great signal reception combined with much higher resistance to breaking.
Not for the front glass. Liquidmetal is conductive, so the touchscreen wouldn't work.
Apple can't cancel any contracts Liquidmetal has with others, as they don't own the company. I would imagine that as that phone goes out of production, no more of those products by anyone other that Apple will be allowed.
No, but the agreement could have called for the patent owners to cancel any existing contracts.
nice post
by the by
all metals are liquid
Wrong. There are crystalline metals.
Originally Posted by Vatdoro View Post
I've worn a tungsten ring for 6 years now, and it's virtually scratch proof. I've taken off the ring and scratched it as hard as I can on cement, brick, metal files, anything.. and still not a scratch on it.
If this liquid metal stuff is more wear resistant than tungsten carbide, I would be flabbergasted
Tungsten and tungsten carbide may be too heavy, and costly?
CGC
Bouncy? Made transparent like glass? I would be curious what sort of metals or metal alloys have achieved this. At least, I have not encountered any so far. Will be very informative.
.
CGC
Others have already pointed out that it is also conductive material so it probably wouldn't work for the front glass, but the bouncy-ness of this stuff is scary-weird. Kind of like flubber almost.
video demonstation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOEBR...layer_embedded
Not sure this would have anything to do with the iPhone. I see this as more related to MBP cases. iPhone seems to be going in a different direction using more glass then metal.
It will most certainly deal with iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, Xserve, AppleTV, etc. There is a lot this adds to durability, elasticity and deformation shock of impact available to this non-crystalline metal.
It will most certainly deal with iPhones, iPads, iPod Touch, MacBooks, MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, Xserve, AppleTV, etc. There is a lot this adds to durability, elasticity and deformation shock of impact available to this non-crystalline metal.
Well really we can be certain about anything. While I am not a metal expert by any means one would have to know how well this metal displaces heat. Something Apple hardware tends to have a problem with already.
No, but the agreement could have called for the patent owners to cancel any existing contracts.
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties. Unless there is some clause in the contract that gives less than all parties the right to opt out, or cancel, usually for some specific reason mentioned in the contract, all parties must agree.
Apple hasn't purchased the company, so that isn't an opt out cause. Liquidmetal did set up a company to manage tne licenses, and that company is what Apple is dealing with here. It's also licensing back to the parent company licensing agreements for all other uses.
But they can't simply say that they've licensed this to Apple and so all other contracts are null and void. There were times in business when I would have loved to do that, but I couldn't.
Others have already pointed out that it is also conductive material so it probably wouldn't work for the front glass, but the bouncy-ness of this stuff is scary-weird. Kind of like flubber almost.
video demonstation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOEBR...layer_embedded
From the video, the steel balls dropped on the flat surface of the metal were the ones bouncing -- to demonstrate transfer of stored kinetic energy on the surface of the three metals used. I doubt that an Apple iPhone using the material as casing will make the phone bouncy.
Conductivity of a material per se does not have to disqualify its use for the front material. Glass itself is conductive, e.g., heat conductive. It is the ability and efficiency of certain metal alloys to conduct electricity that may affect (disqualify) their potential use for the front screen.
At least for the screen, it requires transparency. Any image of a transparent form of the product?
CGC
Don't forget ceramics (which can also be made conductive or non conductive, and are naturally lightweight), and metallic/ceramic materials. Fiberglass has already given way to carbon-fiber, and nano-tube materials and fabrics are already finding their way into products. Materials science is fascinating, and is rapidly evolving, and in the area of quantum computing, they are investigating new materials all the time, some of which will undoubtedly make their way into our lives.
But on the other hand, you have people echoing that line from Star Trek "you can't change the laws of physics". This was also used as an excuse for why aluminum Powerbook G4s and original MacBook Pros were so difficult to take apart and service.
Apple should not make laptops easier to service. Making a laptop easy to service would make it impossibly large and heavy. Never mind the fact that the unibody MacBook Pros are thinner, lighter and easier to service than the original MacBook Pro.