The age of smashing smartphone screens after a waist-high drop might very well be over, as mobile glassmaker Corning just unveiled the latest, toughest variant of its flagship glass cover to date, the Gorilla Glass 5. The new glass, which was unveiled on Wednesday, was hailed the upcoming leader in providing mobile devices with premiere optical clarity, touch sensitivity and damage resistance.

According to an official press release, Gorilla Glass 5 was designed to address the most common complaint among smartphone users. That is, 85 percent of smartphone owners have dropped their devices at least once in a year, while 55 percent have dropped their smartphones more than three times. Among that number, 60 percent of smartphone owners have dropped their device between shoulder and waist height.

Thus, Gorilla Glass 5 was specifically designed to weather those unexpected drops, even from the average selfie height of 1.60 meters. Corning stated that Gorilla Glass 5 has survived about 80 percent of the time when dropped face down into rough surfaces. John Bayne, vice president and general manager, Corning Gorilla Glass, expressed his optimism about the firm's new product.

"With each successive generation of Corning Gorilla Glass, we have taken cover glass technology to new levels. Gorilla Glass 5 is no exception, extending Corning's advantage in drop performance over competitive. With many real-world drops occurring from between waist and shoulder height, we knew improving drop performance would be an important and necessary advancement," he said.

For almost 10 years, Gorilla Glass has been the glass cover of choice for a number of the world's most prominent smartphone and tablet manufacturers, with tech giants such as Samsung, LG, Huawei, HP, Asus and Lenovo equipping their flagship devices with the glassmaker's creations. As of writing, Corning states that about 4.5 billion devices have Gorilla Glass installed, and with the introduction of its toughest product yet, that number would surely increase. 

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