Gorilla Glass 6: New smartphones to survive 15 drops before breaking

Cracking glass remains a major problem for all smartphone owners. But Corning says it has a new generation of glass that can survive up to 15 falls. — dpa

If you're one of those people who are constantly dropping their smartphones, the maker of your phone's protective glass has some good news.

US glass manufacturer Corning is launching the next generation of the material designed to help smartphones and other mobile devices survive drops from greater heights.

The company says its new Gorilla Glass 6 is up to twice as good as its Gorilla Glass 5 predecessor, used in many current flagship smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and iPhone X.

Corning says smartphones with the new glass were able to survive 15 drops onto rough surfaces from a height of one metre.

"Gorilla Glass 6 is an entirely new glass composition that can be chemically strengthened to give it significantly higher levels of compression than is possible with Gorilla Glass 5," Corning Gorilla Glass vice president Jaymin Amin said. "This enables Gorilla Glass 6 to be more resistant to damage."

Since its launch in 2007, Gorilla Glass has been built into more than six billion devices. The company hasn't announced which phones will feature Gorilla Glass 6, but said users will see the first devices featuring the new glass within the next few months. — dpa