otra fanfarronada de apple. Patentando patentes trolls. Espero que les caiga el pelo.
Lo que quieren inventar es el cristal Sapphlex. usado por Seiko en algunos de sus relojes.
Sapphlex is also a Seiko proprietary type of hardened mineral crystal that is laminated (layered on the outer side of the crystal) with sapphire. The idea being to provide the best of both sapphires's superior scratch resistance and Hardlex's superior impact resistance.
The types of plastics used to make acrylic crystals has varied widely throughout the years. From a performance POV there are acrylics out there which perform very well in professional divers (most dive computers today use acrylic crystals). The problems with acrylics are that although they can be made to be very very impact and preasure resistant (at least in higher end ones), they are highly susceptible to scratches from simple bumps that would normally not scratch a simple mineral crystal. Provided the scratches are not too deep, they can generally be easily buffed out with the appropriate tools.
Buffing out scratches on mineral crystals (of any kind - sapphire included) is possible, but difficult and time consuming. even then if you are able to remove the scratch, you run the risk of altering the shape of the crystal in that spot. There are no real guaranties as to the quality of results. Although it is possible, it is usually not worth the time and effort to repolish a mineral crystal. Also, since replacements are generally inexpensive, most people prefer to just replace them.
Personally, I have no problem with Seiko's choice of high-end Hardlex (it is not the same stuff that goes on Seiko 5's), as it has superior impact performance to Sapphire and is not that drastically softer than sapphire (7+ on the Mohs scale vs 9 for sapphire).
de Whatchuseek
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f281/se...ex-140805.html