We know from before that Samsung has been looking to beat Tim Cook & Co. to market by releasing its own smarwatch ahead of Apple’s rumored iWatch device. And as Apple continues to apply for numerous iWatch trademark filings around the world, there has been little solid evidence in the form of patent or trademark filings to indicate the Galaxy maker’s seriousness about wearables.
A newly discovered Samsung trademark filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) changes all that. Dated July 29, the filing seeks to protect Galaxy Gear, a name for “wearable digital electronic devices in the form of a wristwatch, wrist band or bangle capable of providing access to the Internet and for sending and receiving phone calls, electronic mails and messages”…
The filing makes no mention of the technical specifications, though we’re imagining the Galaxy Gear brand will cover multiple wearable gadgets from Samsung, all likely to be powered by Android. And if Samsung’s mobile strategy is an indication, expect multiple smartwatch screen sizes and form factors (rounded, rectangle, curved glass, and so forth).
It’s also unclear from the filing whether Samsung plans on outfitting its wrist accessory with a flexible display. We first heard two years ago it was working on flexible displays for smartphones and tablets, but has yet to incorporate these into products.
Little wonder, as the benefits of producing a smartphone with a bendable display are little, if any. The image top of post is from Samsung’s May 2012 filing with the Korean Intellectual Property Office for a wrist watch with “a body made of flexible displays and elastic materials that can be used while wrapped around a wrist or flattened out”.
As the smartwatch market is set to grow tenfold in 2014, Samsung along with Google, Microsoft and others appears ready to enter the sector with a wearable smartwatch product of its own. Apple is widely rumored to be readying an iWatch, with Bloomberg claiming a team of 100+ Apple engineers has been working on bringing an iOS-powered health/fitness device to market by Christmas (or at some point in 2014).