While a Liquidmetal-sporting next-generation iPhone may not be in the cards for a 2012 release, Apple is presumably looking into fashioning products out of the unique metal that could make their debut sometime in the next two years.
The SEC document, originally filed on Friday and announced on Monday, is an extension to a Master Transaction Agreement (MTA) into which the two companies originally entered in August of 2010. Under the terms of the initial MTA Apple contributed $20 million to Liquidmetal subsidiary Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC, in return for exclusive perpetual rights to any IP created or acquired by the company for use in the iPad maker's products. That agreement ended in early February.
With the new amended document, Apple extends the terms of the original filing to February 2014, giving the Cupertino-based computer giant an extra two years of exclusive access to further development or new inventions from Liquidmetal that will be perpetually licensed under the MTA.
It was rumored in April that the next-generation iPhone would be made from the alloy, however Liquidmetal inventor Dr. Atakan Peker said in May it would cost $300 million to $500 million dollars and at least three years of development to ready the metal for mass production yields.
Liquidmetal is a super-strong metal alloy with unique properties would be suitable for use in a number of consumer product applications. Apple first used the metal in a SIM card ejector tool for the iPhone 3G though it seems the small implementation was a test and the material has yet to make a follow-up appearance.
15 Comments
[I]*Phew*[/I] I was worried they'd have to move to aluminum for their SIM removal tool.
Why don't they just buy the company?
[quote name="Tallest Skil" url="/t/150782/apple-secures-liquidmetal-exclusivity-for-two-more-years#post_2129672"][I]*Phew*[/I] I was worried they'd have to move to aluminum for their SIM removal tool.[/quote] I really wouldn't be surprised to see a liquidmetal iPhone case very soon. The technology is ideal for a cell phone back - cast to final size with almost no post-machining needed. And the amount of metal in a cell phone back is so small that even if the material is 10 times the cost of aluminum, it would still be cheaper overall.
Shoot, I thought Apple owned the rights in perpetuity.
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