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Apple has acquired an exclusive license to use Liquidmetal's space age metal alloys in consumer electronics products, filing with the SEC reveals.
Developed literally in space by NASA, Liquidmetal alloys are extremely strong and flexible metals, incredibly lightweight and flexible, which can nevertheless be cast in factories such as plastics.
NASA is extremely optimistic about new metals:
In the same way that the inventions of steel in the 1800s and the plastic in the 1900s sparked revolutions for the industry, a new clbad of amorphous alloys is about to redefine the science of materials as we know it in the 21st century.
Welcome to the 3rd revolution, known as Liquidmetal alloys, where metals behave similarly to plastics but have more than twice the strength of high performance titanium.
Liquidmetals belong to the category of "vitreous metals" and have already been used in golf clubs and tennis rackets, as well as in CE products such as a SanDisk USB key and a Vertu high-end mobile phone. The US Department of Defense is studying various uses, including the replacement of uranium-tipped armor-piercing ammunition with Liquidmetals.
We do not know what Apple could do with the Liquidmetal license, but a good hypothesis is that of the boxes of the future iPhone, iPod and iPad.
Because of the high strength of these alloys, the cases for iPhone and iPad could be extremely thin and very light. They would be tear-resistant and resistant to corrosion.
In addition, they could be molded into complex and unusual shapes: a property that will surely please Jonny Ive.
Here is a good overview of the material and its applications (PDF): The new materials have remarkable properties and can be customized.
And the video below shows how the Omega watchmaker used Liquidmetal to create a homogenous and shock-resistant watch bezel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZcsWVqLC5I
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