But its biggest and most controversial application is as a hardener for making polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins the materials of choice for manufacturing clear, shatter-proof bottles, spectacles, medical devices and CDs as well as dental coatings and linings for food cans.

ECONOMIST: The plastics industry��s Pyrrhic victory

It has four fingers and a thumb made from various metals and plastics, and even has polycarbonate fingernails to help it prise things apart.

ECONOMIST: Mechanical hand seeks dangerous, dirty and dull jobs

While the rest of the Lumia range have stuck to plastics -- typically glossy polycarbonate -- the Lumia 925 is Nokia's first Windows Phone to be packed into an aluminum frame.

ENGADGET