2013 International CES: Tough As A Gorilla

Introducing Gorilla Glass 3

If you have a smartphone, laptop, or portable media player, chances are you’ve come in contact with Gorilla Glass at some point.  What exactly is Gorilla Glass?  Gorilla Glass is a chemically strengthened glass developed and manufactured by Corning and is designed to be thin, light, and damage-resistant.  It’s primary function is to be strong and thin while also being highly resistant to scratches and chips.  According to Corning, as of late last year over 1 billion mobile devices were using Gorilla Glass.

This year Corning unveiled its “third generation” glass — Gorilla Glass 3.  So what’s so special about Gorilla Glass 3?  Well the second generation, that was revealed at last year’s CES, was 20 percent thinner than the original version but had the same damage resistance.  Gorilla Glass 3 boasts not only retains a reduced thickness but also claims to be 3 times more damage resistant than Gorilla Glass 2.  This feature is being called Native Damage Resistance (NDR).  So what does that mean?  It means that GG3 (typing the full name was a bit tedious) requires 3 times the pressure in order to create damage.  In other words, a scratch made on a device with GG2 would require 3 times the pressure to make the same scratch on a device with GG3.  Might I suggest not testing this claim?  No one likes a scratched screen.

Even with a 3 times stronger glass, this doesn’t mean that Gorilla Glass 3 is indestructible.  A well-placed drop of your phone is always susceptible to serious screen damage.  As always it is suggested you have a protective case and/or a screen protector for your mobile devices.  Strong glass can’t save every thing!

-Mike