New Patent Could Give iPhone Cat-Like Reflexes

If you’re anything like us, you have a tough time keeping your phone’s screen crack-free. Ouch.

But, if you happen to own an iPhone, Apple might soon be giving you a hand — that is, if your phone were to slip out of your hand. (Video via Apple)

On Tuesday the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved a patent filed by the company that would quote, “[alter] the center of mass of the electronic device by moving the mass in the protective mechanism in response to detecting the freefall of the electronic device.”

Which in layman’s terms translates roughly to: If you drop it, it will fall kind of like a cat. iPhones and cats in the same story, how do you like that, Internet? (Video via YouTube / SmarterEveryDay)

According to Gizmodo, the hypothetical iDevice enhancement would use “input from a combination of gyroscopes, accelerometers, and GPS” to reorient the device in free fall — protecting fragile components.

Which, according to National Geographic, isn’t too far off from how cats do it.

“Cats always right themselves in a precise order. The head rotates first, based on messages from the eye and inner ear. Then the spine twists and the rear-quarters align.”

But cat-like reflexes aren’t the only way Apple is working to protect your iPhone from you. According to The Telegraph, the patent also outlines plans for a battery that would eject itself during a fall — changing the direction the phone is falling in — and a contracting headphone jack that would turn your headphones into a sort of makeshift bungee cord.

The patent was actually filed back in March, and so far there’s no indication of when a more graceful iPhone could become a reality.

But it’s not exactly a new idea. As GeekWire reports, Amazon was awarded a patent for a smartphone airbag in December of 2012.  

We don’t recall seeing that on the Amazon Fire phone. (Video via The Verge) 

Personally, we’d suggest a tiny, phone-sized parachute, or maybe just a firmer grip.

This video includes music from Pierlo / CC BY 3.0.