Apple has apparently signed a deal with a company called Liquidmetal Technologies for “the firm’s advanced ‘amorphous’ metal alloys.” Sounds like some Terminator 2 T-1000 stuff to me. The agreement between Apple and Liquidmetal Technologies filed with the SEC shows that Apple can make use of the latter’s intellectual property whenever and however it wants for consumer electronics.
The Baltimore Sun got its hands on the filing:
On August 5, 2010, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Liquidmetal”), entered into a Master Transaction Agreement with Apple Inc., a California corporation (“Apple”), pursuant to which (i) Liquidmetal contributed substantially all of its intellectual property assets to a newly organized special-purpose, wholly-owned subsidiary (the “IP Company”), (ii) the IP Company granted to Apple a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in the field of consumer electronic products in exchange for a license fee, and (iii) the IP Company granted back to Liquidmetal a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercialize such intellectual property in all other fields of use (together with all ancillary agreements, the “Master Transaction Agreement”).
We know that Apple is pushing the limits of manufacturing and materials when it comes to its own products. Unibody aluminum laptops, aluminosilicate glass on phones, and so on. Perhaps Apple is looking to take its next line of products that make good use of aluminum now, like the Macbook Pro or iMac, and construct them with a new, stronger and lighter metal. So, does this mean my next Mac might turn into a humanoid killing machine?
[Via: The Baltimore Sun]