Amazon gets gadget-airbag patent

PanARMENIAN.Net - Amazon has been granted a patent for protecting gadgets such as smartphones and tablets from accidents by deploying miniature airbags and jets of air, tomshardware.com reports.

The patent application was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last August, with Amazon having filed for it during the February of 2010, which was granted recently.

The patent details a system that utilizes 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 change the trajectory of its fall, as well as releasing airbags to reduce potential damage.

Within its filing, the world's largest retailer, who has its own Kindle tablet lineup that may soon be extended through a smartphone, suggested the technology will work with phones, computers, tablets, cameras and video game controllers.