Elon Musk’s Vision 2.0; Corning Rolls Out Gorilla Glass 5

Last night, Elon Musk revealed his Master Plan part 2.0…it’s been 10 years since his first one. Some of the hi lights as noted by recode.net: Teslas will use solar panels on the roofs that will integrate with batteries (which is the reason behind the Solar City deal), and the company is planning to add a smaller SUV, big rig trucks, and busses. The whole fleet will be self-driving, and Musk sees owners renting out their cars for money when they aren’t needing them, competing with Uber and Lyft…but of course, without needing drivers. One has to think a new level of protection against hacking and car theft would be needed!

Corning has dropped Gorilla Glass 5…so to speak. Actually, according to theverge.com, Corning claims to have improved resistance to breakage when dropped onto a rough surface from between waist and shoulder height. They claim it survives 80% of the time when dropped from 1.6 meters. Corning says 85 percent of smartphone owners have dropped their phones at least once in the past year, and that two-thirds of those drops are from waist height to shoulder height. Note that the test glass was .6 mm thick, and many phones now use .4 mm screens…and also the test drops were face first, and it’s a hit to the corner that usually breaks screens. Corning claims these breaks are more a function of the phone’s construction though, and out of their control.