Earlier quoted context omitted.
But I agree with gregpilling. Why did they have to add all of those untested features to the spec. Is sapphire glass really better or is it just a fancy sounding gimmick? And what's up with "Silicon-anode Li-ion?" More RAM sounded good to me and the whole ubuntu in your pocket thing also sounds great, but premium pricing and new hardware technologies that are unproven worry me.
Sapphire glass will be used on several new upcoming high-end smartphones, and is already used by Vertu. So, yes, it is just a fancy sounding gimmick and will be commonplace in 2014.
It is, in fact, the "transparent aluminum" from Star Trek. Which was an elaborate joke on the fact that pure aluminum oxide is harder than anything except elemental boron and diamond.
Keep emery boards away from your sapphire screen and it simply will not scratch. I can't wait, personally, and have been disappointed that the camera lens on iPhones is not yet sapphire since the 4.