“Interviewed exclusively by CultofMac.com, Dr. Atakan Peker says Liquidmetal might be a good material for building a next-generation antenna,” Kahney reports. “‘Let me state that this is very exciting for me,’ he said. ‘I made the first and original alloy formulations… I am a big Mac fan and admire greatly Apple as a company. I have been using Mac exclusively my whole life, both at work and home. It is a pleasant surprise for me to see both get together.'”
Kahney reports, “Last week, Apple signed an exclusive agreement to license Liquidmetal Technologies‘ IP for consumer electronic products… Apple’s plans for Liquidmetal is unknown. Surprisingly, the company is very secretive about it. Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment, and neither did Liquidmetal.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
Apple may also tell him to STFU.
“Surprisingly, the company is very secretive about it.”
Because Apple is well known for blabbing their plans for the future?
This guy better shut his trap before Steve Jobs cancels that “exclusive agreement.” Give all the interviews you want, AFTER Apple releases the products that use your alloy.
I don’t think he exactly revealed any trade secrets here, unless he wanted it kept secret that he has always been a big Mac fan.
Hello, McFly. He no longer works for the company, so he’s not violating any NDA or risking the relationship.
Stop the idiotic knee-jerk, uninformed reactions. (Of course, 95% of the Internet would vanish if we blocked those.)
Won’t it keep spilling out?
@ John
If he “invented” the thing, he probably still has a financial stake in the success of the venture, even if he is no longer an employee. It’s a matter of common sense, not an “NDA.”
@ ken1w
I’m sure Apple wants the exclusivity in this case…not the other way around. The liquidmetal owners would be more than happy to license to everyone, but Apple wrote them a check for exclusive rights for CE use they couldn’t refuse.
I don’t know why Apple would use this for the antenna for the iPhone. It seems that this would be overkill for an antennae. I think its more likely that they will be making cases with intensely cool built in details and design accents/integrated functions while at the same time lower cost of manufacturing while increasing the speed of making the parts. Im not sure of the physics of the metal, but it appears that the parts can be made thinner and stronger than any current alloy. I can see this being applied to all their mobile devices. I can imagine that the next version of the iPad could be thinner and stronger using this metal. Not only that, but the current iPad and powerbooks are made from a solid sheet of aluminum and then need to be CNC milled. This takes time. According to the liquidmetal site, the new iPad & powerbook could be injection molded using this metal. They may also have design components molded directly into the part. I can imagine that the next gen powerbooks could have thin shells with the necessary part directly molded into the body so they are about the thickness of the current MB Air. Im sure Apple has big plans for this, especially since they have the exclusive rights to the material for use in electronics. No other company can use this for electronics devices. What a coup. There is a very cool video on youtube showing the manufacturing of the Omega Seamaster watch. Check it out.
Apple’s patent which became public when LQMT stock price was still near $0.13 shows how they may be using the material in iPhone4.
“Apple’s plans for Liquidmetal is unknown. Surprisingly, the company is very secretive about it. Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment, and neither did Liquidmetal.”
Oh sh^t! Jobs wants to build a T-1000.
Found the link to the patent information.
http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2010/06/behind-apples-stunningly-crafted-iphone-is-a-patent.html
Why would we need this? Hasn’t just about everyone since the Steve Jobs presser that stopped the hysteria concluded that the antenna on the revolutionary iP4 is just fine?
If you are among the “just about everyone group” you are an idiot.
First, Jobs signals the “just fine” antenna will be fixed around the first of October, then he fires the guy in charge of the iPhone department, and now this revolutionary discovery of a better metal – obviously what’s needed so the iP4 will work as promised.
For those of us who stood in line for six hours so we could be the stupid first adopters – we have a defective product that we paid an enormous price to buy and even more enormous monthly fee to operate and the thing does not do very well when it comes to holding onto phone calls – assuming you can get one to connect in the first place.
One of the better acquisitions we have made.
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One of the better acquisitions we have made.
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One of the better acquisitions we have made.
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One of the better acquisitions we have made.
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One of the better acquisitions we have made.
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One of the better acquisitions we have made.
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One of the better acquisitions we have made.
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Duuuuuh…..
Let’s celebrate a few weeks of upcoming predictions on what Apple will do with it’s liquid netal that isn’t liquid at all because it would be very messy.
This liquid metal, that isn’t very liquid, will be used for the upcoming iPaper! Pleasure for your butt. Every time!