Search This Blog

Thursday, January 22, 2015

iPhone 6 lands unscathed in 100,000ft - space drop test

The other day infront of a busy traffic junction – was a young girl on a scooty, talking on mobile (placed between her head and shoulders) – the signal turned green, the van driver behind buzzed horn impatiently, the girl slightly lifted her head and sped ~ for a second I was worried of the mobile falling down, but it was secured around her neck and nonchalantly was intact.

‘Drop test’ (noun) -  a  test of the strength of an object, in which it is dropped under standard conditions or a set weight is dropped on it from a given height. Marine Cargo insurance is about insuring cargoes in transit from place to place and one of the important aspect for consideration is the way they are packed.  The packing should be good enough to protect the subject matter from the normal hazards during transportation. 

Yesterday, read  an interesting article on ‘ultimate drop test’.   It is a new model expected to be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the beginning of March and go on sale in April 2015.   Samsung's next generation Galaxy handset could have a curved screen that covers both its sides. The handset, which is expected to have a 5.5inch screen, will come in a 'special edition' version with the curved technology, according to Sammobile. The Korean giant believes its curved technology could give it an edge over arch rival Apple.  It will also have an octa-core processor, Mali-T768 graphics processing unit, and a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera.

Earlier this month, in the face of stiff competition, and following a consecutive drop in profits, Samsung announced plans to curb the number of phones it makes each year. Instead of releasing handset after handset and saturating the market with Samsung devices, the firm has decided it needs to concentrate on making fewer handsets, better.  There reportedly has been drop in profits. 

The post  is about the drop test of ‘iPhone 6’  sent 100,000ft up to the edge of space - and surviving temperatures of -56C (and a crash-landing) without a single scratch.   MailOnline reports that an  iPhone 6 has survived what must rank as the ultimate drop test after being sent 100,000ft (30,480 metres) to the edge of space and brought back down to earth with a thud.Incredible footage reveals the device soaring into the stratosphere while attached to a weather balloon, and being exposed to 70mph (112kph) winds and temperatures of below -56°C (-70°F). The rig carrying the phone then drops back down to earth, before crashing to the ground to supposedly demonstrate the durability of its protective case.

The firm sent the iPhone into space attached to a rig that had two GoPro cameras, a GPS locator, a weather balloon to lift it to the intended 100,000ft altitude and a parachute to regulate the descent.   A video posted by CNET, shows that the rig lifting off from a field close to Chirk Castle in north Wales on a grey, rainy day in November.  Footage reveals the device surviving 70mph (112kph) winds and temperatures reaching below -56°C (-70°F).  The image after loading shows that  the phone despite not having a screen protector still managed to come out unscathed.

The balloon  rapidly climbs above the rain clouds to emerge in bright sunshine and, as it gains altitude, so the temperature rapidly drops. Once it passes 101,000ft, the balloon is detached from the rig and the handset begins its fall back to earth. The parachute fails to fully stabilise the rig and the footage shows it spinning wildly as it descends, turning at speeds of up to 150rpm. It eventually lands, in a field 12 miles from its take-off point, with an almighty bump that breaks the rig - but the iPhone remains intact.

Steve Armstrong, the co-founder of Urban Armor Gear, said after the test: 'Our cases already meet military drop-test standards, but now we can officially say that they are space tested as well. So another good reason to buy one, as many of us negligently let go and cause falling down of our mobiles, to find their touchscreen or other vital parts not functioning.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
22nd Jan 2015.


No comments:

Post a Comment