Will the iPhone 5 be made of Terminator-like liquid metal?
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The next iPhone reportedly will be made of Liquidmetal, a material that might not do everything the T-1000 could but is still like nothing you've ever seen.
Government agencies such as the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration that are thinking of moving to iPhones for their mobile communications might want to wait until the iPhone 5 is released.
According to Korea IT news, which has gotten more than one tech scoop correct, the next iPhone will be made of Liquidmetal, making it the most durable and lightweight frame ever to grace a smart phone. And it probably will be the coolest looking gadget ever designed to boot.
Liquidmetal, you ask? What the heck is Liquidmetal? Well, sadly, it’s not the material seen in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," so it won’t be able to melt itself down and form into a miniature T-1000 or Arnold Schwarzenegger to beat up all your other smart phones.
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Liquidmetal (one word) is the trademarked name for an alloy that is a mix of zirconium, titanium, nickel, copper and a few other things. It’s incredibly strong, looks like it’s wet all the time, and has some pretty amazing properties.
The company that owns Liquidmetal, which goes by the same name, posted a YouTube video showing one of its cooler features in relation to stainless steel and titanium, and, I have to admit, it kind of looks like magic. You can view the video at the end of this story.
What makes me think that the Korea IT news site probably called this one right is Apple's decision to pay the Liquidmetal Technology company $20 million dollars for the right to use it in their phones. I doubt even Apple would shell out that kind of cash on a whim.
What makes the Liquidmetal material so great to work with is that it can be injection-molded into any shape, just like plastic. Right now, most metals have to be bent into shape. A few less-durable metals can go through a process called die-casting, which is sort of like injection molding, but done under very high pressure. The problem with that process is that it tends to make materials less resistant to scratching. That’s OK in your car’s engine block but probably not that great for a tiny tool that you will probably handle every single day.
Apparently, LiquidMetal injection molding is more like injecting plastic molds, where it’s practically just poured into the needed shape, or at least done without the need for such high pressure to force things. But it’s actually a bit more complicated than that, to the point where reports say making something out of Liquidmetal is still an expensive prospect compared to most everything else.
Good thing Apple has never worried about producing an expensive product before. Perhaps the iPhone 5 will cost more than any other phone because of it, but my guess is that people will line up to get one anyway if it has the right combination of ruggedness and an ultra-cool factor that would be hard to beat.