HTC is improving the strength of its One S smartphone’s housing by treating it with a process called microarc oxidation, which makes it three times stronger than stainless steel. It’s the same electrochemical surface treatment process used on a lot of NASA’s satellites. The process is similar to conventional anodizing (a process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal) except that the aluminum is subjected to 10,000 volts, giving it a matte black ceramic finish and an incredibly dense crystalline structure.
The smartphone was announced at the Mobile World Congress last February, and it was allegedly spotted this week at the International CTIA Wireless 2012 sporting a unibody housing that had undergone the microarc oxidation process.