Dropping your smartphone when taking a selfie could soon be less risky, says specialist glass maker Corning

Dropping your smartphone when taking a selfie could soon be less risky, says specialist glass maker Corning

Shattered or cracked screens are the number one cause of smartphone repairs and customer complaints globally

It has launched its next generation of Gorilla Glass - the material used in more than 70% of smartphone screens, including on Samsung and Apple devices

Corning said Gorilla Glass 5 could survive more than 80% of drops from as high as 1.6 metres. As well as drops, it was twice at good at resisting scratches and other damage compared to what's currently on the market

Some of the phones tested survived over 20 hard drops in the lab. Typically, most phone drops are from between waist and shoulder height

Corning's work in specialist glass dates back to 1879, when it produced the glass used in the iconic Edison lightbulb

By 2016, more than 4.5 billion devices use Gorilla Glass, which is created using a technique known as fusion forming

It involves placing the raw materials - sand and "other inorganic material" - into a melting pot. It is then transferred to an isopipe, essentially a small trough, which is intentionally overfilled. The melted material spills out over both sides and combines underneath to form the sheet of glass

This technique means there is no human contact needed in creating the glass, eliminating defects and removing the need to treat the glass afterwards