Hasta La Gadget!

Apple has had a patent approved today (via AppleInsider) that could make it a leader in a new kind of display material technology: Sapphire glass. The patent describes various methods for attaching sapphire crystal to electronic devices, and includes a description of how it does this with the sapphire glass covering the iPhone camera lens introduced with the iPhone 5, as well as a means for attaching sapphire as a cover for the whole display.

In the past, the iPhone has used Gorilla Glass to protect its screen (though some believe it may have stopped recently); Apple championed this tech and basically made its maker Corning the default choice for smartphone OEMs looking for a tough, scratch-resistant material to use to protect their screens. But last year, Apple made a $578 million bet on sapphire (which is used often in good watches) with GT Advanced Technologies to have it build a manufacturing plant for the material in Arizona.

When the deal was announced, our own Matthew Panzarino took a closer look at the investment, and at what sapphire glass could provide Apple. Sapphire, including the lab grown variety, is much tougher, more resistant to scratches, and more resistant to breakage after scratches than even Gorilla Glass, which has a strong reputation in all those arenas. It’s heavier, too, but would potentially allow Apple to use thinner pieces for both space and weight savings.

Of course, there are also existing needs at Apple for sapphire glass, including the iPhone camera lens and the new Touch ID-compatible home button, which many expect to make its way to other Apple devices including the iPad eventually. But the patent uses an iPhone-type device as its illustrative example, and specifically states that while the gadget depicted is a “smart phone,” the techniques described could be used on any number of devices. A smartwatch might be a good target case, for example, given that Apple has been rumored to have been working on one for some time, and that sapphire is a very common case material used in the manufacture of watches from most leading brands.

The patent itself details ways in which the sapphire material could be attached to the shell or casing of an electronic device, with examples in illustrations detailing jigsaw-type and tounge-and-groove mechanics for keeping the glass firmly in place.

At this stage, it’s more likely that Apple is simply laying the groundwork for a potential shift to sapphire in its phones and other devices a considerable way down the road, rather than tipping its hand for any immediately upcoming change in how its devices are made, but this patent demonstrates that it is indeed thinking in terms of smartphone displays and other applications that go beyond its current uses of the material.

ASK Inc. Japan has released another graphics card from Sapphire, the Radeon R7 240 4GB PCI-E w/ Boost. Powered by AMD Radeon R7 240 GPU, the card card is packed with 320 Stream processors, a 128-bit memory interface, a core clock of 730MHz (780MHz Boost Clock) and a 4GB of DDR3 memory set @ 1800MHz, and features D-Sub, dual-link DVI-D and HDMI outputs. The Sapphire Radeon R7 240 4GB PCI-E w/ Boost sells for 10,000 Yen (about $102). [Product Page]

It’s been almost half a year since Vertu launched its first-ever Android phone, the TI, and now the company’s decided to throw in a couple of limited editions to lure the big spenders. As pictured above, the new Vertu TI Colours collection is wrapped in either “Sunset Red” or “Midnight Blue” calf leather, and only 1,000 units are made for each color. As per typical Vertu style, there’s a unique number etched on the back to indicate which of the 1,000 units yours is.

The rest of this hand-crafted, matt grey titanium phone remains unchanged otherwise, namely its 3.7-inch tough sapphire screen, Android 4.0, 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, 64GB storage plus an 8-megapixel camera. And of course, the phone still comes with the famed Vertu Concierge, a “100 percent independent” service that CEO Perry Oosting is very proud of. To join this exclusive club, you’ll have to somehow fork out a whopping HK$90,000 or €8,900 (about US$11,700) — just a tad more expensive than the TI Titanium Pure Black edition, but also more flamboyant. This author already spotted these new phones at Vertu’s Hong Kong Airport store, and he’s currently accepting donations.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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ASK Inc. Japan has released Sapphire’s latest graphics card, the HD7990 6GB GDDR5. Powered by dual GPUs, this high performance card is equipped with 4096 Stream Processors, 2x 384-bit memory interface, a core clock of 950MHz (1000MHz Boost Clock) and a 6GB of GDDR5 memory set @ 6000MHz, and features 1x dual-link DVI-I and 4x mini DisplayPort outputs. The HD7990 6GB GDDR5 retails for around 140,000 Yen (about $1,428). [Product Page]

Sapphire has introduced another graphics card to its range, the HD 7950 Mac Edition. Designed specifically for Apple Mac Pro series of desktop computers, the card sports 1792 Stream Processors, a core clock of 800MHz and a 3GB of GDDR5 memory set @ 5000MHz, and features 1x dual-link DVI-I, 1x HDMI and 2x mini DisplayPort outputs. Pricing info is still unknown at the moment. [Sapphire]