iPhone 5 Air Bags!!! New Shock Mount System For The iPhone 5

Before you start laughing at this title, we must say that Apple and Amazon have both filed for patents that are trying to use air bag technology in cell phones, to protect the cell phone against accidental drops. Read on to learn if the iPhone 5 will indeed sport an in built air bag technology.
iPhone 5 Airbags – Is this a cruel joke?
Nope, in fact, it is very plausible that future iPhones, starting with the iPhone 5, could feature a technology where a thin air bag or a number of air pads are activated by a sensor that will be able to detect the fall of the iPhone. Coming to think of it, the concept is very much possible because sensors are very sophisticated these days. They can easily be programmed to detect a fall. We are not very good with physics and can’t really give you an explanation on how a sensor might be able to do that although we think so because the sensors can do some pretty amazing things already, like turn off the touch screen when you take it close to your skin. Many of the iPhone games also use sensors that pick up on the slightest deft movements of the phone.
In the patent application that Apple filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (picture shown below), they said that such technology is necessary because the cell phone screens are getting thinner by the day. There have been some suggestions that the iPhone 5 is going to be thinner than the iPhone 4S. So, Apple could genuinely be interested in giving their customers an in built safety option to protect a rather delicate screen.
How will the iPhone 5 airbags work?
Apparently, the sensors will first identify that the iPhone has been dropped. Then, in a split second, the sensors will activate the inflation of strategically placed air bags that will dramatically reduce the shock that will be sustained, when the iPhone hits the floor. While Apple’s patent simply calls for the deployment of protective bags or air bags, Amazon have taken this concept one step further by describing that their technology will also somehow reposition the phone in such a way that it falls in the least damaging way possible. Have you seen how a cat falls on its feet even if it is dropped upside down? Apparently, Amazon has ideas that can replicate that phenomenon in a cell phone!
What kind of problems will iPhone 5 airbags post?
While the technology seems plausible, we have to say that iPhone 5 airbags seems like a weird concept. There are so many people, including us, who give our iPhone or any other phone a lazy toss, allowing it to fall on a couch or a bed. If the air bags are going to be deployed during such tosses, this technology is going to look like a joke. Since this technology will most likely not be user serviceable, people are going to have to take their phone into an Apple store each time the air bags have been deployed. They are not going to be happy if the air bags go off accidentally.

Official image submitted by Apple to the U.S Patent Office, requesting a patent for air bag technology in an iPhone!

Some people we spoke to about this also asked what will happen if they jump off a staircase, skipping the last few steps. Seems like a logical question. Of course, Apple is a multibillion dollar company that would perfect any technology before giving it to the general public. But, this concept somehow feels like serious overkill to us. The fact that Apple has recently had a lot of problems with the iPhone 4S battery life and Siri seems to suggest that product and quality testing may not be as optimal as Apple would ideally like it to be.
What do you guys think? Do you think iPhone 5 air bags are for real? Apple has filed patents for this. They wouldn’t file patents just for fun….would they?