Samsung has trademarked a new material called ‘Metal 12’ which will make its devices lighter while still maintaining strength.
The new material – which was used on the new Notebook 9 2018 – offers strength while allowing the devices to be lighter than previously.
Samsung says this is made possible through a Micro Arc Oxidation process that gives the surface an oxide coating – a process that was used on the beautifully-designed HTC One S from years ago.
That’s something that would be a big win in both smartphones and smartwatches – and interestingly both are listed in the trademark application.
In fact, everything from ‘3D Active Glasses’ to ‘leather cases for smart phones’ are listed as possible uses for the material, suggesting Samsung has found something it believes could be used to improve the quality and feel of a number of devices.
(Non) heavy metal
The fact Metal 12 has been used on a notebook already hints that it could be used in the Samsung Galaxy S9, but in reality it’s likely to need more development to be used in something so small.
That does mean something like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 or the possible Samsung Gear S4 could be prime candidates for the new material.
Then again, Apple’s been trying to use the ‘future material’ LiquidMetal for many, many years now and it’s never been used in great quantities for its smartphones, so this could be the last time we ever talk about Metal 12 too.
Source: techradar.com
