AfterDawn: Tech news

Amazon CEO patents smartphone air bags

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Aug 2011 10:19 User comments (6)

Amazon CEO patents smartphone air bags Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has allegedly filed for a patent that would bring an "airbag"-type system to smartphones and other mobile devices.
The patent application, from last February, shows a system where the phone detects it is being dropped and then deploys a damage protection system, similar to airbags in cars.

Reads the patent application (via PCW):

While the size and weight of portable devices make them convenient to carry around, these characteristics often make them more susceptible to damage and loss. With the number of cellular phones in use exceeding several billion and repairs typically exceeding $25, the costs of damage and loss of cellular phones amounts to billions of dollars per year.


There are a few different damage protection systems noted, with one being airbags, a second being springs, and finally "a small explosion of air."



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6 user comments

112.8.2011 22:42

Trying to think of reasons this is impractical. All I can really come up with is how often i toss my phone onto my bed or a couch for whatever reason. A bad habit anyways. Seems like a neat idea.

212.8.2011 22:52

well shit, i better hurry up an submit my deployable emergency parachute systems for electronic devices.

312.8.2011 22:58

lol.....the next patent dispute of the future perhaps lol

413.8.2011 03:30

I got the next big thing a foam phone! Springs lol who wants a phone with springs sticking out everywhere. A blast of air so what all phones with this will need a canister to hold air. For what so once it hits the ground the blast of air is deployed phone goes up hits the ground again as if if 1 fall is not good enough. Again air bags don't go off until a certain spot or amount of force is applied so what will this do? Someone did not think this over for to long I assume.

513.8.2011 09:18

....and they can't just sell them with a decent properly designed & styled gel enclosure/case because?

613.8.2011 11:46

Originally posted by Interestx:
....and they can't just sell them with a decent properly designed & styled gel enclosure/case because?
Because then the iPhone wouldn't drop your calls when you hold it wrong, thus defeating the ONLY feature it has over Android!

Seriously tho...why would a manufacturer include such things? If they want to make a strong phone, they just make a strong phone. I can't count how many times I have dropped my droid on concrete...it still works fine, the keyboard sliders are even tight. Meanwhile, my coworker drops his iPhone once and the screen shatters into a million pieces! I guess Motorola thinks that quality gets repeat customers and Apple thinks that broken phones get repeat customers...and they are both right for their market segments (android is competitive; iOS is not).

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