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Electric razor blades have come up here before, as a perfect application. I would hope that Hauck has already approached, or has plans to approach Norelco, Braun, et al.
Anyone have a theory on whether LM parts would be a better or worse (re-usable) replacement for common torque-to-yield bolts?*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque-to-yield_fastener
*Obviously you wouldn't torque them to yield.
Everyone has an "Apple will buy LQMT" theory, but no one can answer the question, "If Apple has plans to buy LQMT, why on Earth would they pay twenty times more at a later date instead of buying it now?" I would go so far as to call that an actionable breach of fiduciary duty, were it somehow possible to prove.
Reasonable thinking, but if Apple had any plans at all to acquire LQMT, why would they not do it right now with the price at the bottom?
Fascinating, thanks for the link.
Don't get me wrong; I agree that Apple is still the most important factor in the future success of LQMT. The reverse, however, is not the least bit true. I doubt that Apple has spent much time at all telling Liquidmetal what to do (because they really couldn't care less), but rather has taken just a few moments to very clearly spell out what not to do.
Watts, do you know if molten LM is more or less viscous than a typical molten plastic? I would imagine that if it is less viscous, it would be possible to reduce the cross-section of the sprue lines a bit.
Also, does anyone understand exactly how LQMT accomplishes the critical cooling rate with the Engel machine? Do we start with a hot mold and "flash freeze" it with some thermoelectric or phase change method—or is the molten alloy injected into a pre-cooled mold? If the former, I imagine flow rate could be fairly leisurely, while the latter (if even possible) would require extremely fast flow through relatively large channels. This is one of the things about the technology that still mystifies me.
Brand new ball bounce video?! The ultimate LQMT bellwether!
Also, first I've seen of this overmolded part. Anyone recognize what it might be?:
I'd say the patents are worth a multiple of the global market for BMG. If and when that market is ever accounted for in billions of dollars, so will the value of the IP.
Apple makes enough profit in about 12 hours to buy this entire company. If they're really so concerned with our operations, why not just pull the trigger?
It has gotten a lot less expensive since the availability of Be-free alloys. I took a look at industrial metal prices about a month ago and the cost of the raw metals to produce 1 oz. of LM-105 is about $0.56:
That does not account for what Materion charges us to produce and ship the feedstock, or any of the R&D or operational overhead. I have no way to even make an educated guess at those numbers, but my imagination tells me that with smooth production at extremely high volumes, a 1 oz. part could break even at $1 – $3 wholesale.
Their social media sites also feature some entirely out of place photo of an evil-looking hooded figure and their logo is an absolute rip-off of the logo for a popular video game (Destiny):
https://twitter.com/TuringRobotic
https://www.facebook.com/turingroboticindustries
Destiny.jpg
There is no way that this is a real product.
I'm going to go out on a limb here:
The "Turing Phone" is, at worst, vaporware. At best, this could be the beginning of a viral marketing campaign for some unannounced sci-fi movie* or video game. This sort of marketing has been done several times before. Either way, I'm confident that this product does not, and will not, exist.
The company is supposedly a subsidiary of some Chinese megaconglomerate (UBM). We all know how good the Chinese can be at stealing IP, making false advertising claims and doing other things that would get them sued into oblivion as a Western company.
* Terminator 5, featuring a rampant robotic AI and evil liquid metal cyborgs opens in July. Coincidence?
The first patent describes a method for rapid high volume feedstock production. To me, this is Apple saying, "Materion's methods can't possibly supply us with enough Liquidmetal fast enough." Bodes pretty well.
The timing of this new (very convincing) Case Study posted alongside tvasile's recent hinting at a pending medical contract has me feeling somewhat bullish in the short term. I don't think we'll see $1 for months, but $0.40 seems immediately reachable with good enough news. Thinking about converting tomorrow's paycheck straight into a few more shares.
Definitely. That float glass patent that came out of Apple was interesting, but as someone who only minored in physics, it would seem theoretically possible to me to scale the current process up to a practically unlimited platen size—using a large synchronized array of essentially the same induction melt and cooling equipment in use on the e-motion. Perhaps not the best method, or the most cost-effective, but most likely doable with ridiculous amounts of money thrown at it. That is to say, that if a modern day Apollo program called for sheets of LM, we would be swimming in sheets of LM.
I agree. Just wanted to point out the one way in which (at least currently known alloys of) BMG will never be like steel, before people get too carried away with the comparisons.
That said, I did suggest a few weeks ago, and still maintain, that LM would be exceptionally well-suited to form the hull of a submarine or a warship, because of its total immunity to seawater corrosion, the possibility of incorporating microscopic features to enhance hydrodynamics and/or stealth, and because $19,000/ton is not prohibitively expensive for military capex. Watts was then kind enough to produce a link to an ancient article that minimally explored this very concept at a time when it was entirely impractical.
I agree with the train of thought. Technological advances will soon make BMG an excellent option for many applications. However, we must keep in mind the key difference in comparing steel to BMG: $9/pound for LQMT's cheapest formulation, with little to no room for reduction by economies of scale. Unless someone can figure out a BMG alloy consisting primarily of Fe or Al, I doubt we'll ever be using amorphous I-beams to build earthquake-proof skyscrapers.
I could be wrong, but I believe the "Hybrid" label is in reference to the design. It's not quite a dagger (because it has a built-in blade guard) and not quite a folding knife (because it doesn't really fold).
The knife is pure LiquidMetal except for the belt clip.
Just because we think of it as premium technology does not mean that Apple feels the same. As far as Jony Ive is concerned, LiquidMetal may just be a better plastic.
If they make 100 million phones out of it, I don't care where it falls in their product lineup. In fact, we may get better exposure from an iPhone 6c presenting LM as a superior "everyday" material.
I suspect now that we will first see LiquidMetal in Apple's existing low-end injection molded product. For Apple's cost of probably less than $5/case, a BMG "iPhone 6c" would be far more attractive than a polycarbonate one, with minimal need to redesign internal components. Every other (non-plastic) product of theirs would require a full redesign in order to accommodate the limitations of a molded case. Considering the resources that they've invested in their three new Apple Watch alloys, I don't imagine they'll be abandoning them any time soon.
I'm starting to wonder if LQMT could successfully have the MTA dismissed by a court, by arguing that the definition of what constitutes a "consumer electronic device" is becoming less and less meaningful as technology advances.
There is at least one patent that describes overmolding a display directly into a BMG casing, to form a perfect permanent seal, and I'm pretty sure it mentioned sapphire as a potential display material. Beyond that, I don't see what sapphire patents would belong in CIP.
Seems likely that they would only change the case study link if it were relevant to something upcoming.
Are we to take this as a hint?
Very interesting. The Google link has broken images, here is a link that includes the drawings: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20150068015.pdf
They seem to reference the LM 106a formulation in the patent.
This is certainly a patent that would be useful in the construction of a LiquidMetal laptop or phone casing (things that are already manufactured by Hon Hai for Apple).
I'd say very good chance that these missiles implement our BMG canard tech if this contract is picked up. Two problems: first, if the entire contract is $46.5M, I wouldn't expect our cut (gross) to exceed $1M over 5 years. Drop in the bucket. Second, we'd be competing or co-supplying with Visser for this.
Really only significant as a foot in the door of mass-produced weapons systems.
Our chance for redemption!
Golfer Troy Merritt Shatters 2-Iron on Tee Shot at Texas Open
But seriously, imagine the instant sales figures if we could convince the USGA to increase the allowed coefficient of restitution. As soon as one pro fills his bag with (modern, re-engineered, non-shattering) LM clubs, they become mandatory for the entire tour.
I bet this is tvasile's big secret. He must have a buddy at the USGA.
Unless you bought your shares at the IPO. Then, LQMT has taken back 99% of your investment in order to sell it to someone else, and your $26,000 started out as $3,000,000.
Market cap still about the same, though.
$750M market cap may be on the low side for a company developing disruptive materials technology and holding half-ownership of dozens of Apple patents—but it feels like it's on the very high side for this particular company and our management.