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back to article Gorilla Glass fights dirty, dirty germs with antimicrobial coating

Germophobes rejoice (but don't high-five, that would be unsanitary). Corning has unveiled an antimicrobial version of its Gorilla Glass line. The company said that its glass display covers will sport an ionic silver coating which will kill off any potential build-up of harmful bacteria and fungi. Corning said that the coating …

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  1. Stuart Gepp
    Joke

    Oh no! Time is running out for the telephone sanitizers. Better get working on th B Ark.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      How else can we build up resistance to bugs?

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  2. ratfox

    I would consider this barely useful, considering this only protects the glass and not the parts of the phone you are holding…

    Then again, there are people who spend an awful lot of time on the toilet seat playing with their cell phone.

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    1. Great Bu
      Reply Icon

      Luckily the toilet seat is likely to be one of the cleanest places in their house (unlike the kitchen counter or, God forbid, the cloth they use to dry the 'clean' dishes with.....)

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  3. Dan 4

    Awesome, death chemicals. Now if only we can convince the gullible that the glass causes autism, maybe people will stop using these annoying things as babysitters.

    Haha, I'm totally gonna get sued in a year by Corning.

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    1. Charles 9
      Reply Icon

      AIUI, the action of this glass is closer to that of bleach than that of triclosan: on a raw chemical level that makes it harder to build resistance.

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  4. Thorne
    Gimp

    Clearly.....

    They didn't want the fanbois to get sick when they make out with their iDevices....

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  5. Harry the Bastard
    WTF?

    corning claims "innovation", copying might be more accurate...

    http://www.agc-glass.eu/AGC+Flat+Glass+Europe/English/Homepage/News/Press+room/Press-Detail-Page/page.aspx/979?pressitemid=1031

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  6. Crisp

    If it's my fondleslab...

    Then aren't those my germs? Ones that I'm already immune to or part of my normal skin flora and fauna?

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    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
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      Not to be flippant or anything, but if you think "your" germs are the only things that are around you then you are sadly mistaken.

      Personally, I am happy to remain ignorant, but if we knew just how many hostile microbial organisms are hovering in our breathing zone, we'd probably live 24/7 with a filter mask on. Not to mention gloves.

      And all that would be mostly useless, because we already have one of the best microbial barriers : our skin.

      Not perfect, of course, but if you compare the number of times you fall ill to the number of different micro-organismes that are just begging for a chance to make you sick, you'll see how good your skin is at protecting you.

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      1. Charles 9
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        "And all that would be mostly useless, because we already have one of the best microbial barriers : our skin."

        The gloves I can see barring the fact they can cover up cuts through which microbes can directly invade the blood). But wouldn't the fact that orifices provides paths past the skin tell us we should still do masks? Or are they moot by the fact they can slip through gaps and still get in?

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  7. Martin H Watson

    I read that as iconic silver screen at first.

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  8. Anonymous IV

    Why don't they think of the children?

    Oh? This is a story about microbes?

    [back to the Daily Mail]

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I was waiting for this

    Now I can finalise my tongue screen interface.

    As for normal fingering, I thought several million years of evolution meant that microbes don't pass through the skin on the ends of your fingers, guess I was wrong.

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  10. Brian Cockburn
    Angel

    Speeling?

    Should that be germ-wary rather than germ-weary??

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  11. Pahhh

    Might be useful

    Might be useful say as a device used in hospitals?

    No reason I guess you can't make the casing out of the same material either?

    Or maybe make the casing out of brass given coppers antimicrobial properties. Would make a nice steam punk device :)

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    1. Charles 9
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      Re: Might be useful

      Silver has similar antimicrobial properties. Makes me wonder which one is better (copper or silver) when put head to head.

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