The future of Apple mobile hardware will soon be upon us. You may recall that last year, Apple obtained the exclusive rights to a unique metal alloy called Liquidmetal. At the time they procured it, the rumor mill was busy churning out speculation over how the new technology might be employed by Cupertino. Some said it would be implemented in antenna design. Others suggested it could be used to build lighter, stronger cases for mobile devices. Man, were they ever off the mark. If a recent patent awarded to Apple is any indicator, Apple has something planned that'll blow their competition right out of the water. Again.
According to Free Patents Online, Apple has been awarded a patent in which their exclusive rights to the use of Liquidmetal has been turned towards the production of power for next-generation mobile devices, such as a future iteration of the iPhone. The patent, is for "Current collector plates of bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy". What does that mean? Well, Apple offered the following abstract as part of their patent application:
"Collector plates made of bulk-solidifying amorphous alloys, the bulk-solidifying amorphous alloys providing ruggedness, lightweight structure, excellent resistance to chemical and environmental effects, and low-cost manufacturing, and methods of making such collector plates from such bulk-solidifying amorphous alloys are provided"
For those of us who don't speak science-geek, that translates to describe how Apple plans on using a an amorphous alloy--Liquid metal, for example, as a component in a fuel cell battery. It's speculated that fuel cell batteries, running off of hydrogen, could power a mobile device such as a phone for upwards of a month at a time without the need for a recharge.
With such a battery boasting such lofty abilities, who knows what Cupertino will empower future iOS devices to do: Will it be long lasting power, or high-powered handset features that we've yet to even dream of? Only time, and of course, a Keynote by His Jobsness Himself will allow us to know for sure.
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