At CES last year, Corning introduced Gorilla Glass 3. The year before that, it was Gorilla Glass 2. This year, the company is changing things up a bit. Corning today announced an enhancement to its current Gorilla Glass and claimed the title of world's first antimicrobial cover glass.
You probably don't need us to tell you, but touchscreens are pretty gross. Unless you're the kind of person that wipes down their phone with an antibacterial swab, you can probably be pretty certain your phone isn't very clean. Did you hand Galaxy S4 to your coworker to show them a photo? Did you lend your friend your iPhone 5 to make a phone call? I bet you didn't ask them to wash their hands before they touched your phone, and I bet you didn't wipe down your phone when you got it back.
Corning is hoping to eliminate some of the risk of grimy touchscreens with its new Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass. This glass comes with all the benefits of regular Gorilla Glass (its durability, its scratch resistance, it’s tougher than ever), but it also has built-in antimicrobial properties that last the lifetime of the display cover glass itself. Based on ionic silver, this technology is embedded in the core of the glass and helps to protect touch surfaces from odors and stains that might cause bacteria to build up on the phone.
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