If you have ever worried about catching a disease off a dirty touchscreen then the solution is going to be out there soon.
US company Corning is bringing out a new type of touchscreen glass which is said to stay free of bacteria and fungi for the lifetime of the device using it.
The secret behind the glass – called Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass – is that it contains a substance called ionic silver. This is something whose germ fighting properties have been known about for a long time.
Anti Bacterial Film Already Available
At the moment, there is already the option of buying an anti bacterial film which you put onto the screen of your phone or tablet. However, this is the first solution which comes integrated in devices and keeps them germ free for the whole of their lifetime.
The Gorilla Glass products already produced by Corning have won a big share of the market, with companies such as Apple, HTC and Samsung all using the glass on their gadgets. In fact, Gorilla Glass has brought in around £610m in revenue for the firm.
So what does the new type of glass do? It stops the growth of horrible stuff like algae, mould, mildew, fungi and bacteria.
James Steiner is senior vice president of Corning and he said that this new glass gives “best in class antimicrobial function” without “compromising” the existing properties of Gorilla Glass. The company’s advertising for the antibacterial glass will play on the fact that “thousands of bacteria” are present on the average mobile phone or tablet.
