Amazon has been granted a patent for protecting gadgets such as smartphones and tablets from accidents by deploying miniature airbags and jets of air.
The patent application was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last August, with Amazon having filed for it during the February of 2010, which was granted recently.
The patent details a system that utilizes a gadget's built-in gyroscope, camera, accelerometers and other onboard sensors in order to determine if the device has entered an airborne state. If it has, the technology will change the trajectory of its fall, as well as releasing airbags to reduce potential damage.
Within its filing, the world's largest retailer, who has its own Kindle tablet lineup that may soon be extended through a smartphone, suggested the technology will work with phones, computers, tablets, cameras and video game controllers.
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Zak Islam is a freelance writer focusing on security, networking, and general computing. His work also appears at Digital Trends and Tom's Guide.
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builder4 I thought gadget companies WANTED your stuff to break when you drop it, so you need to buy a new one.Reply -
geost91gr It's nice to read about a real patent once in a while, just as a break from non-sense-patent wars.Reply -
CrArC I can only see this going wrong. Who else pictures knocking their phone off the table only for it to beep in alarm and rocket away from the floor, crashing through a nearby window and embedding itself in a tree outside?Reply
Then, PUFF - the airbags deploy. -
auto airbags cost hundreds of $$s to replace. wonder how much it will cost to replace the airbag or compressed gas cartridge in this deviceReply
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kingnoobe It wouldn't surprise me stromo if you could simply push these back in. Now the air cartridges are another thing since well obviously they won't be your normal ones. Which in of itself will probably make them a tad pricey if they're even replaceable in the first place.Reply