Glass when we first discovered it was an extremely valuable invention (or discovery?) but we knew it to be a substance that was extremely brittle and hardly resistant to mechanical shocks. But after very long time, glass evolved and became even tough to withstand bullets. Now we have something similar for mobile phones. Initially tough but scratch-prone, fingerprint magnet, reflective. Later developed were scratch-resistant glass, retina screens, scratch-proof glass.

Corning Gorilla Glass has developed glasses that could withstand huge mechanical shocks and presures. This has replaces the screen for every mid and premium phone's glasses. How ever, there is more to climb on this mountain. The latest version that is yet to reach smartphones is the bendable screen. Once considered virtually impossible to bend because of its brittle nature, the glass is now designed to be paper thin and even capable of being bent. This glass from Corning is being called the Willow glass.

Willow can be used on bent screens of flexible screens that can be bent or used as wrap-around screens. The curved screens of the future have arrived. Like the newspaper printing, a flexible screen can be manufactured roll-to-roll and then be shaped or sized for economical production unlike today's unit production in batches.

However, since the product is not made of glass but some sort of plastic, the substrates and the disposal of the glass will lead to environmental problems and more. There is still a long way the R&D into this technology has to go before it makes it to the market.

(AW- Anil)