The phone 'airbag' that would mean you would never break another mobile

System uses motion sensors to detect when a phone has been dropped. Airbags and jet streams are then engaged, hoping to prevent impact. The patented system is the brainchild of retailer Amazon.
It's that heart-lurching moment millions of us dread. For a split second you stand utterly helpless as your dropped iPhone plunges towards an unforgiving pavement. But now inventors have devised an unlikely answer to one of modern life’s most expensive little mishaps – an airbag for your smartphone. Motion-sensing technology already built into most smartphones is used to detect when it has dropped – and the mini airbag is then deployed before it hits the floor.
It's that heart-lurching moment millions of us dread. For a split second you stand utterly helpless as your dropped iPhone plunges towards an unforgiving pavement. But now inventors have devised an unlikely answer to one of modern life’s most expensive little mishaps – an airbag for your smartphone. Motion-sensing technology already built into most smartphones is used to detect when it has dropped – and the mini airbag is then deployed before it hits the floor.
The patent details a system that utilises a gadget’s built-in gyroscope, camera, accelerometers and other onboard sensors in order to determine if the device has entered an airborne state. If it has, the technology will release airbags to reduce potential damage – or possibly even change the trajectory of its fall by firing jets of air. It may sound far-fetched but there is no doubting the idea has a market, as iPhone owners in the UK alone spend tens of millions of pounds a year repairing their devices. Victor Seidel, a lecturer in science entrepreneurship at Oxford University, last night applauded the effort to try new ideas, saying: ‘I am not sure the next phone I buy will be fitted with an airbag but we are often surprised by what ideas become successful.
An airbag incorporated into a phone might mean the end of cumbersome cases, but it might be impractical to produce. Jeff Bezos is a man known for going his own way and being successful, but I think the real question is: Has he come up with this idea because he keeps dropping his own phone?’ And Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, said: ‘What’s next, smartphones with built-in parachutes? Or maybe handsets with wings and propellers? ‘This sounds like a feature worthy of Bond, codename SOS SMS. But airbags for windbags sounds like a lot of hot air to me. From a logistical point of view, the handset would have to be rather bulky to hide an airbag.’ Peter Bee, a technician at Fix My iPhone in London, said: ‘No matter what weird or wonderful way we come up with to protect our phones, there will always be someone out there who ends up breaking it.