Mobile Air Bags

The days of worrying about cracking our phones' screens after dropping them could be over, because airbags for smartphones may soon become a reality.

The patent for the airbag-like protective technology has just been granted to Amazon, listing its CEO Jeff Bezos and Vice President Greg Hart as the inventors.

In a nutshell, the technology would use various sensors to detect if the phone is at risk of damage from impact, before deploying the one or more small airbags embedded in the phone, to cushion it from shock.

The system may also utilize gas or springs to soften the impact of a fall.