Antimicrobial Glass Makes Futuristic Phone, ZTE Axon, A Germophobe's Dream

Dirty phone? Clean it! But with the latest smartphone you won't have to: The phone's glass cleans itself.

The ZTE Axon is the first smartphone to use antimicrobial glass from Corning. The glass was first announced last year, but now is being used on a fully functioning smartphone.

Smartphones can get pretty grimy and most have more germs than a toilet seat. When the new glass was first announced, Corning said it would help stop the growth of mold, mildew and bacteria through the use of silver ions. As the New Yorker pointed out, silver ions have long been known for their antimicrobial properties -- but the exact way the ions kill microbes is difficult to determine.

The development by Corning was seen as a way to break into a market of wipes, foams and sprays that have been created to clean smartphones. The glass would kill nearly 99.9 percent of microbes, Digital Trends reported. Regular Gorilla Glass -- the kind that is super durable, but doesn't kill germs -- is used in 1,550 products and in nearly 4 billion devices worldwide, Corning says.

The Axon is made by Chinese manufacturer ZTE and can be preordered for $449.98. Aside from the antimicrobial glass, the phone is made of metal. It also includes front and back cameras and runs on a Google Android Lollipop operating system.

So far, ZTE is still in talks to make the Axon available through U.S. phone carriers, but Digital Trends reports the device is compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile services.

Let's hope other phone manufacturers follow the trend. Clean phones for everyone!