Corning Incorporated has announced intentions to showcase their next-generation of ultra durable Gorilla Glass at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. Corning has enjoyed tremendous success with their chemically-strengthened sheet glass in mobile products and tablets, currently featured on more than 30 major brands and implemented into more than 575 product models spanning over 500 million units worldwide.
Corning is expected to release full product details in an announcement planned for January 9 but notes that CES attendees can expect to see the company explore larger formats, touch displays for education, entertainment, auto and home appliance applications. An 82-inch advanced multi-touch LCD display featuring Gorilla Glass will be on display as well as a touch-enabled automobile interior.
Known for its strength, scratch resistance and thinness, Gorilla Glass was originally developed in the 1960s but the company had never found a market for it and quit making it. This suddenly changed prior to the launch of the original Apple iPhone when CEO Steve Jobs was in search of a glass to use on the new device. Jobs was urged to check out Corning Glass by John Seely Brown, a Corning board member and personal friend.
As noted in Steve Jobs' biography by Walter Isaacson, Jobs met with Corning CEO Wendell Weeks and within six months, the company produced the display for the iPhone that Apple announced in January 2007 and later brought to market in June. It's unclear if Apple has continued to use Gorilla Glass in iPhones after the 3GS but rumors are already swirling that Gorilla Glass 2 could be used in the iPhone 5.