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Samsung prepares to take on Apple and Google again as smartwatch patent revealed
Samsung’s designs for a smartwatch have been revealed in a series of patent filings, confirming the company is preparing to take on Apple and Google in the new market.
The Samsung device will have a bendable screen that wraps round the wrist, controlled by a small panel with keys like those featured on the company’s Galaxy Android handset, according to drawings unearthed by a South Korean news site.
The plans also suggest the watch will be able to make and receive phone calls, send emails and texts, store information and access the internet. The smartwatch will be made out of metals and plastics.
Documents on the Moveplayer news site show the company has registered the names Samsung Galaxy Gear for the US market and Samsung Gear for South Korea. Lee Young Hee, the company's executive vice president, confirmed earlier this year that Samsung would be developing a smartwatch.
The South Korean company is entering what may soon become a crowded market: Google and Apple have filed patent documents suggesting they plan to develop watches, while Microsoft has confirmed it is working on a version of its own.
Sony is already advertising a Smartwatch 2, billed as an accessory to its Xperia smartphones, which will be released later in the year. Meanwhile, TomTom has released a SportWatch, which will offer a heart rate monitor and speed sensors to help users improve their workout.
But experts are divided on whether the interest shown in smartwatches so far by companies will be shared by consumers.
Technology analyst firm Canalys predicts the market will boom over 2014 with the release of a “new generation of devices”, with up to five million smartphones being shipped by the end of the year.
“Smartwatches will be the most important new product category in consumer electronics since the iPad defined the market for tablets,” said Chris Jones, a vice president at the firm.
“Software platforms tied to smartwatches will also be a tremendous opportunity for developers to write apps in categories such as health and wellness or sports and fitness.”
He added the devices were unlikely to replace smartphones, but rather be bought as accessories for them.
However, market research undertaken by the International Data Corporation in the US suggested the majority of consumers had little interest in using any of the features offered by a smartwatch.
The most popular function among those polled was the option of seeing who was calling them from the wrist, but only 14 per cent of respondents said they were very interested in the application.