Finding a Durable Back Panel for iPhone 4

[rosebud123]

Hello,

been lurking on the forum for a while and am very impressed with the knowledge of some the posters here.

Like I'm sure many others here do too, I own an iPhone 4 and a few days ago I accidentally dropped it with the result that the glass on the back side cracked. That made me think that perhaps there might be a better material than glass for that panel? Perhaps there's even a business to be made here?

The material would have to be:

1. very scratch/wear resistant (like glass, so normal plastic won't cut it)
2. work well with antennas (like glass, metal won't work from what I understand)
3. be less fragile than glass when dropped

Any suggestions? Some sort of ceramic, perhaps? Epoxy/glass fibre?

 

[MATLABdude]

Sapphire glass? They use that in high-end watches, but it'd probably be pretty expensive.

Silicone? That'd be pretty interesting: a mushy cell phone! (Or at least bumpers on the various corners)

Then again, you could just do like me and use a silicone case. Mine's survived quite a few falls from 4 or 5 feet, perfectly intact and unscratched.