Apple iPad Survives Fall From Outer Space

Apple iPad designers would not have envisaged their tablet creation being able to survive a lengthly fall from outer space, but thanks to a new protective casing, it can do just that.

The company in question is G-Form, and it was revealed on the Neowin forums that the company had taken a humble iPad, placed its inside its Extreme Edge case, and launched it into the  stratosphere attached to a weather balloon.

The company filmed the entire event and produced the following 2 minute YouTube video of the experiment.

Space Freefall

Needless to say the iPad survived its lengthy drop from 100,000 feet, after it crashed onto a rocky hillside in Nevada, apparently somewhere close to the famous Area 51 military base.

“As far as we know, this is the first iPad ever in space,” G-Form’s VP of innovations, Thom Cafaro is reported as saying. “And definitely it’s the first iPad that’s ever free-fallen from space and survived to play more movies. We are usually known for making the most protective gear on the planet…so we decided why not raise the bar to off the planet too.”

But this is not the first time an Apple product has survived lengthy falls.

Back in July 2011, 37-year-old Jarrod McKinney reportedly discovered first hand while skydiving at 13,500 feet (4.1 kilometers) just how tough his iPhone 4 was, after it slipped out of his pocket and survived the fall back to earth. Although the glass backing and screen were shattered, the handset still worked.

And prior to that in March 2011, US Air Force Combat Controller Ron Walker, revealed that his iPhone had accidentally dropped out of his pocket while leaning out of an airplane flying at 1,000 feet. Once back on the ground, Walker and his colleagues used the Find My iPhone app to locate the handset, which they the discovered, had survived its 1,000 foot fall undamaged, thanks in large part to its Griffin casing.

Delicate Kit

Despite these survival stories, many other users report their Apple iPads and iPhones sustaining severe damage from seemingly modest falls and drops. Indeed, back in April 2010, Rapid Repair warned that the iPad was at risk from a higher rate of accidents, “which are more damaging than what we are used to.”

Many Apple products use Corning’s Gorilla Glass, the tough surface that protects the delicate screens. Corning revealed this week that it is improving the Gorilla Glass and it will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week.

But as tablets start to make their presence felt in businesses, many IT managers could be concerned at the durability of these seemingly fragile devices.

In the past, businesses may have opted for ruggedised tablets, such as the recently released Panasonic Android-based Toughbook Tablet. But it remains to be seen whether the performance of these new generation protective cases, such as G-Form’s Extreme Edge, could persuade them to opt for the box standard iPad instead.