Who has ever dropped their smart phone? Now of those, who has ever picked it up only to find your screen smashed to bits? It totally sucks.
Well, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has patented a prototype airbag for your smartphone. Yes. An airbag for your phone.
Considering your phone is no longer a hulking mass of electronics but rather a small supercomputer, it is no wonder that people are searching for means to protect it. Think about it, there is an entire market out there dedicated to housing our phones. So it is no wonder why a multi-billionaire with nothing better to do would attempt to create an airbag for your phone.
Here is how it works.
[size=x-small]
Amazon Billionaire Makes Airbag For Your Smart Phone! Photo from U.S. Patent Office.[/size]
The device will use the accelerometer that is already inside your smartphone. The accelerometer will sense if the phone is falling too quickly, thus triggering airbag deployment. But like airbags in cars, once deployed they are not easily repackaged, leaving us to wonder how that aspect will be incorporated into the design.
But Bezos' patent doesn't stop there; it also includes a mechanism that may use steam to slow your phone's descent to doom. The patent also includes design for springs instead of airbags. To me, this sounds a bit much to pack into phones that are constantly trying to be slimmer and lighter.
Regardless, I am curious to see how this will work, how expensive it will be, and if people will actually use it, and if it is even really worth the trouble. Personally, I have yet to shatter my phone (fingers-crossed), but to those who have, perhaps this airbag thingy will be a God send.
Considering your phone is no longer a hulking mass of electronics but rather a small supercomputer, it is no wonder that people are searching for means to protect it. Think about it, there is an entire market out there dedicated to housing our phones. So it is no wonder why a multi-billionaire with nothing better to do would attempt to create an airbag for your phone.
Here is how it works.
[size=x-small]
Amazon Billionaire Makes Airbag For Your Smart Phone! Photo from U.S. Patent Office.[/size]
The device will use the accelerometer that is already inside your smartphone. The accelerometer will sense if the phone is falling too quickly, thus triggering airbag deployment. But like airbags in cars, once deployed they are not easily repackaged, leaving us to wonder how that aspect will be incorporated into the design.
But Bezos' patent doesn't stop there; it also includes a mechanism that may use steam to slow your phone's descent to doom. The patent also includes design for springs instead of airbags. To me, this sounds a bit much to pack into phones that are constantly trying to be slimmer and lighter.
Regardless, I am curious to see how this will work, how expensive it will be, and if people will actually use it, and if it is even really worth the trouble. Personally, I have yet to shatter my phone (fingers-crossed), but to those who have, perhaps this airbag thingy will be a God send.
