Apple Eyes Technology to Save iPhone Screens from Cracking after a Hard Fall

Apple had probably been looking at cats a lot in the past.

That's because reports have it that the tech giant has been "awarded a patent covering a futuristic iPhone protection system that can recognize when a phone is dropped, calculate an estimated point of impact and shift its center of gravity to avoid striking sensitive components," according to Apple Insider.

This prompted Gizmodo to observe that this technology would basically "make your iPhone fall like a cat."

"Cats are famous for their righting reflex, an innate ability for the animal to orient itself mid-flight so that it lands on its feet and doesn't hurt itself. Apple's new patent applies this exact same idea to its fragile and expensive electronics, namely mobile ones like iPhone and iPad," the tech news site pointed out.

This sounds like a really clever idea, one that would probably be copied or adapted by other smartphone makers in the industry.

"According to the patent, built-in technology could estimate a point of impact and then shift the device's center of gravity to save iPhones from an early grave," Mashable explained. "This would work by using the iPhone's inner vibration motor and processor."

"The motor, in theory, would shift the device's mass to rotate it before impact and would work in tandem with the phone's sensors (like accelerometers and gyroscopes) to keep an eye on the phone's positioning," the news source added.

This, however, is not the only aspect described in the patent. Mashable said that the technology could let the device "latch onto or eject headphone cables during free fall."

Pretty cool, huh? Sounds like something out of a spy flick.

It should also be mentioned that not all patents could be integrated in an actual product, as patents could be filed for different kinds of ideas. The said screen-protective patent, for example, involves a motor that is different from the iPhone 6, so it's likely that this technology will be incorporated in such a device. This is especially given that Apple's current smartphone model is the "least breakable phone ever," according to RT.

"All this has happened without the new stabilizing device, suggesting that Apple has perhaps gone for the more traditional values of sturdier building materials and better engineering, as opposed to complex technological solutions. If this is indeed the case, we may not see the 'cat phone' - at least for a few more years," the site speculated.

What do you say to this "cat" technology in smartphones?