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Just want to chime in and thank Gamesc once again for sharing his research and knowledge with us. I've never been this hopeful, it's quite heady. This board has been a great help to me.
Yes, Bob! It's the year of the highly improbables!
Thanks again, gamesc. You are the best!
iPhone 7's sapphire secrets — This may be of interest to some here, though it has nothing to do with LQMT:
Video:
Thank you, Gamesc, for presenting such encouraging news. No doubt our time is near.
Thanks joshuaeyu. Appreciate your post.
Don't understand your reply -- why would you think it would be minute? There are many qualities or reasons why the ceramics and Liquidmetal would be better together. This article will explain better than I can.
https://www.quora.com/What-will-the-iPhone-8-be-made-of/answer/Brian-Roemmele?srid=hgQ0&share=3f3d7353
Ceramics and Liquidmetal can be bound together, if I correctly understand the post from Gamesc post No. 97017:
One of Apple's first applications to reference Liquidmetal" became a patent in Europe today.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP2176049B1.html
"Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been described, it should be understood that the present invention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the scope of the claims. By way of example, while the present invention has been described in terms of metal parts, the present invention is not limited to being used with respect to metal parts. Rather than being formed from metal, a substrate onto which features are to be adhered may be fabricated from other materials including, but not limited to including, glass or ceramic.?A moldable material from which features are formed may be formed from substantially any suitable plastic or resin. For instance, a moldable material may be formed from a plastic such as polycarbonate or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). It should be appreciated that a moldable material is not limited to being a plastic or a resin. By way of example, a moldable material may be an injectable ceramic, or a moldable or injectable metal such as LiquidMetal. Liquid metals, and the use thereof, are described in U.S. Provisional Application No.
60/949,449 filed July 12, 2007, and entitled "INSERT MOLDING LIQUID METAL AROUND GLASS".?While the surface of a metal part which is to be bound to a moldable part has generally been described as including either protrusions or undercuts, the surface of a metal part is not limited to including either protrusions or undercuts. For instance, the surface of a metal part to which a moldable part is lobe adhered may include both protrusions and undercuts. Further, the sizes and the shapes of protrusions and undercuts associated with the surface of a metal part may vary. In one embodiment, protrusions of different shapes and/or undercuts of different shapes may be associated with a single metal part. By way of example, chemically etching undercuts and/or voids in a substrate may include applying a first set of chemicals to etch peaks and valleys on the surface of a substrate, providing a liquid in the valleys, polishing the surface, and then applying a second set of chemicals that 'eats' the liquid in the valleys at different rates than the surface to create undercuts. Therefore, the present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but maybe modified within the scope of the appended claims."
There's no way you or I could know how difficult it was for Li to get his money into the US. There are probably more palms to be greased in China, unlike the US where a single donation to the right Foundation can make things happen.
Why not use the contact form on the website? http://liquidmetal.com/contact/
Which broker charges the lowest fees to buy LQMT? I'm asking because my current broker charges additional fees for penny stocks such as LQMT. Thanks in advance.
Gamesc, is this one new? patent
Thank you for that post, Yamasushi. I believe in Steipp too.
Aw, don't go. Your posts are the best!
Awesome article, Gamesc! Thanks for posting it, along with your many other informational posts.
Crucible is fully owned by Liquidmetal. There is no 50-50 ownership.
WarChest, I don't have private message capability.
Wait a minute ... the iPhone 6 S and 6 S+ may already be waterproof. Please see this video of both phones working flawlessly after being submerged for over an hour!
http://bgr.com/2015/09/27/iphone-6s-waterproof-testing/
Another video shows a guy boiling and freezing and boiling the iPhone and it still survives!
Eventually, Apple will use Liquidmetal, I definitely agree. Someday and in some way in some product.
But it's not going to be something in the body of a car. There is not one quote from Apple — or even a named source — to justify the Wall Street Journal story. They're speculating based on rumors. It's actually not real until Apple and Tim Cook say it is.
I believe Apple is investing in the technology of an electric car — hardware and software. As cars are becoming computers on wheels, Apple will probably design a better way to infuse the hardware with the software. But there will not be an Apple car in 2019.
Thanks Gamesc for bringing a little sanity back to this page. We don't yet know the formulations.
Thank you, thoand, for the reply.
I received no comments on my last post, but as long as we are speculating on the uses of Liquidmetal, I think it's worth considering:
I'm not convinced Apple is building a car. In my opinion, they are designing a longer-lasting battery & motor that will lead to the more convenient use of an electric car.
And, don't we have specific patents about the use of Liquidmetal in fuel cells and batteries? I refer you to this recent article:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3464786-has-apple-found-the-holy-grail-of-electric-vehicles
Thank you longinus!
I'm not convinced Apple is building a car. In my opinion, they are designing a longer-lasting battery & motor that will lead to the more convenient use of an electric car.
And, don't we have specific patents about the use of Liquidmetal in fuel cells and batteries?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/3464786-has-apple-found-the-holy-grail-of-electric-vehicles
When I asked Siri to give us a hint, she told me:
"Well, I hear there's something big happening on September 9."
On second try, Siri said:
"You're cute when you're desperate for information."
Swatch Grabs Trademarks... (please pardon me if this has already been posted and discussed here)
Swatch grabs ‘One More Thing’ trademarks as apparent poke at Apple, now pending opposition
Swatch, apparently threatened by Apple’s recent forays into watchmaking, has taken another legal step seemingly aimed at tweaking Cupertino: registration of two “One More Thing” trademarks, a catch phrase famously associated with former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote speeches.
Discovered this week by Wirtschaft and noted by Patently Apple, the trademarks “One More Thing” (1261461) and “Swatch One More Thing” (1261460) appear to have been filed for in November of 2014, published in Switzerland this May, and registered across 44 countries yesterday. Swatch has trademarked the phrases for categories that include media players, telecommunications devices, computers, and timepieces, which could prevent Apple from using “One More Thing” when introducing and marketing future products overseas. An opposition to the trademarks is apparently pending.
Legal issues between Apple and Swatch have been on a low boil for years. Swatch has trademarked and sold the “iSwatch,” which apparently prevented Apple from using “iWatch” as the name for the Apple Watch, and holds exclusive rights to use Liquidmetal in watches, a narrow carve-out impacting Apple’s planned use of the material in its products. On the technology side, Swatch has attempted to diversify its watch lineup with more advanced technologies, introducing the niche Swatch Touch Zero One as a touchscreen watch for beach volleyball players. It’s unclear whether Swatch’s latest move is designed to put pressure on Apple to negotiate a broad licensing deal, or the act of a competitor determined to restrict a new rival’s growth.
Source: http://9to5mac.com/2015/08/21/swatch-one-more-thing-trademark/
I followed the links and found more Apple products here:
ttp://liquidmetal.com/product/mauris-auctor-et-dolor/
Likely just a mockup of a webpage design they are considering.
To add to your post regarding Apple's Research and Development spending:
So far this year, Apple has spent $5,847,000,000 on R&D, and that's only a little over 3% of its revenue of $182,214,000,000.
Interesting historical charts here http://aaplinvestors.net/stats/research/ help put these figures in perspective.
I received a replacement iPhone from Apple today, and included in the box was a sim ejection tool. It is very bright and shiny and lightweight. Does anyone know if ALL Apple's sim tools are Liquidmetal. I'm wondering if I'm actually holding a piece of LQMT. How could I tell?
Gamesc, thank you for your posts on patent filings. Very interesting.
Rige, I agree the Apple Watch is definitely consumer electronics. The iPhone is called a phone when actually the telephone part of it is little more than an app. The watch is called a watch when the fact that it tells time is only an app. These devices, whatever you call them, are actually personal, portable computers that perform a wide variety of tasks.
How Apple makes the watch is the subject of a technical blog that shows how very sophisticated apple's technology is.
http://atomicdelights.com/blog/a-glimpse-at-how-the-apple-watch-is-made
Those of you who know metals manufacturing may want to read the whole article. But here are some of the best parts:
"Apple is doing something utterly unique in this 5 seconds of video - they are using a laser to clean up any burrs or finishing defects from machining. You can see the laser quickly outline the lip of an inside pocket, and come in for a more intense second pass on the floor of that pocket. I would consider this (quite long) blog post a success if the engineer or designer who thought that trick up reads this and knows that this is an astonishingly brilliant trick they cooked up. Bravo!
Though I design aluminum parts, I long ago gave up even attempting to craft them to Apple's finishing standards. No company in the world is finishing and anodizing to Apple's level and part of their secret is every perfectly bead blasted Apple surface starts off as a perfectly polished surface. To compete with Apple, one either needs to invest in equipment with prices equivalent to a CNC machine (6 axis robotic arms with custom end actuators - i.e. hands - to hold your parts), or pay staggering sums of money to have an expert hand polish your parts and accept the fact that the best you will ever get is a reject rate of 10%."
----
"Jony Ive often speaks of care. It is an odd word to use as it doesn't imply the traditional notion of "craftsmanship" in the classic, handmade sense. Nor does it imply quality or precision in the way a Japanese car manufacturer or German machine tool maker would. "Care" implies a respect for the raw materials and end result, with little concern about what it takes to link those two ends of the production chain together, and we see that highlighted with the Watch. Apple could very easily have forgone forging to create stainless steel cases, just like everyone else. Hardening gold alloy with cold working could have been eliminated, putting them on par with the rest of the industry. Nobody will see or feel the inside pocket for the microphone on the Sport, yet it has been laser finished to perfection.
I see these videos and I see a process that could only have been created by a team looking to execute on a level far beyond what was necessary or what will be noticed. This isn't a supply chain, it is a ritual Apple is performing to bring themselves up to the standards necessary to compete against companies with centuries of experience."
Watch it here on any device: http://www.apple.com/live/2015-mar-event/
Since so many of the posts on this page are nothing but conjecture or opinion, let me add mine to the mix. None of us knows how Apple will eventually use LQMT, if ever. But one thing I believe firmly is that if Apple uses it, it will be in consumer electronics.
I know some here say Apple is moving out of consumer electronics. There is no evidence of that.
Apple began as a computer company, but dropped that from its name when it began to emphasize its software integration across products. Today, Apple is more into designing software and products to use that software, while continuing to link all its products in an ecosystem.
Apple is not building a car, not in California, not in Arizona. It's my belief that Apple is building software to expand Apple CarPlay. It's likely Apple is designing the electronics of a dashboard, making an easier connection to iPhones and Apple watches.
Apple is not going to branch out into making refrigerators, washers, televisions, etc... as Samsung does. Apple will continue perfecting and expanding its place in computerizing software to be used wherever people go and whatever they do: school, business, work, home, entertainment, hospital, and yes, the cars they drive.
It's important to remember that Apple's focus is on consumer products.
Like others here, I would like to learn of some LQMT use in the Apple Watch. But we will not learn of it on Monday. It will likely be a month from now before someone does a tear-down of an Apple Watch to reveal what components are used.
Just my two cents ...
P.S. It's a pet peeve of mine, but when referring to Sir Jonathan Ive, his first name is Jony (one n) and his last name is Ive (no s).
A bit more on the subject of gold in the Apple Watch, for whatever it is worth:
http://leancrew.com/all-this/2015/03/apple-gold/
Apple gold
March 7, 2015 at 10:53 AM by Dr. Drang
Twitter user Sumocat got some blowback for this tweet:
@marco_org Apple has a patent that can reduce the gold content of their 18k gold by half. veg.gy/ZhMF2
— Sumocat (@SumocatS) Mar 6 2015 1:58 PM
It’s inartfully put (140 characters is a bitch), but as a practical matter he’s correct. Apple’s patent application is for a method that allows them to make 18k gold that has, on a volume basis, less gold than regular 18k gold.
How can this be? It’s because Apple’s gold is a metal matrix composite, not a standard alloy. Instead of mixing the gold with silver, copper, or other metals to make it harder, Apple is mixing it with low-density ceramic particles. The ceramic makes Apple’s gold harder and more scratch-resistant—which Tim Cook touted during the September announcement—and it also makes it less dense overall.
The karat measure of gold is based on the mass fraction. One hundred grams of 18k gold has 75 grams of gold and 25 grams of other material. If that “other material” is a low-density ceramic, it takes up a bigger volume than if it’s a high-density metal. Because the casing of a watch is made to a particular size (i.e. volume), not to a particular weight, the ?Watch will have less gold in it than an 18k case made of a conventional alloy.
As an example, assume a conventional 18k gold alloy with 75% gold (19.3 g/cc), 15% silver (10.5 g/cc), and 10% copper (8.96 g/cc) by weight. The alloy will have a density of
10.7519.3+0.1510.5+0.108.96=15.6g/cc
A cubic centimeter of this alloy will contain
0.75×15.6=11.7g
of gold.
Now assume an 18k gold with 75% gold and 25% boron carbide by weight (that’s one of the ceramics mentioned in Apple’s patent). Boron carbide has a density of 2.52 g/cc, so a gold/boron carbide metal matrix composite would have a density of about
10.7519.3+0.252.52=7.24g/cc
A cubic centimeter of this material will contain only
0.75×7.24=5.43g
of gold. Here, the gold takes up
5.43g19.3g/cc=0.28cc
or 28% of the volume.
Table 1 of Apple’s patent gives other configurations and shows the gold savings.
Some of these numbers look flatly wrong to me. For example, changing from a baseline of 25.8 g of gold in a particular part to 12.1 g is not a savings of 43%, it’s a savings of 53%. Maybe I’m reading the table wrong.
In any event, the patent makes it clear that saving gold is one of the goals of the process. I suppose it’s not surprising that Tim didn’t make a big deal out of that in September.
Darknight, I've read the patent you mention in Post No. 64672. The patent is granted to Apple and LQMT is not mentioned. How is LQMT connected here? Thanks in advance for your reply.
The iWatch is consumer electronics — it's not like a watch made by Swatch and it's not a medical device. The product Apple is working on will be unlike anything on the market already. The software that runs it is what will make it unique, and it will work with the iPhone. For a better explanation of why this is different, see this piece about Why Would Apple Make a Watch:
https://medium.com/@jamesjgill/why-would-apple-make-a-watch-12abf9141063
Can you tell what has changed on website, if anything?