14 DAY TRIAL // Lately, there has been an avalanche of information related to Samsung’s plan concerning wearables. The company seems to be growing a whole harvest of them, including smart glasses, a huge volume of new smartwatch models, and fitness bracelets or trackers.
These new products might have in common the fact that they all revolve around the “Gear” moniker, which is currently used by Samsung for its wearables.
But a new patent discovered by Patently Mobile shows us that Sammy might be pushing the Gear brand in the shadows soon. The filing reveals that the Korean tech giant could be working towards something called the “Smart Bangle.”
While Samsung currently has three smartwatches on the market (the original Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, and Gear 2 Neo) and the Gear Fit health-centric band, the Smart Bangle could represent the company’s next-gen lineup of wearables.
From what can be spotted in the patent, the bangle (or bracelet) is made of both flexible and rigid materials. The device has a cushion that allows it to fit onto any wrist, so it might be that Samsung is looking to make the experience of wearing a band more pleasant for future adopters.
Compared to the current Samsung Gear 2, the bangle should bring about substantial improvements to the party, maybe a bigger screen, some hardware buttons, and the e-wallet functionality.
Based on the sketches and the info included in the patent, the Smart Bangle should arrive in the form of a device with a sliding display equipped with motion detection and wrist gesture identification system that would be in charge of identifying and translating the command. By the looks of it, the wearable should have a flexible OLED display that goes around the wrist.
Furthermore, the watch is said to feature intelligent zoom functions for maps, facial recognition lock feature, and a lot more.
The Smart Bangle seems reminiscent of the Apple iWatch patent the Cupertino company filed back in February 2013, only that Samsung threw a bunch of extra features and capabilities in the mix.
Anyway, we should note that, just because a device shows up in a patent, it doesn't mean we will actually see the technology arrive on the market, not by a long shot, actually.
By the way, as regards the Samsung Gear 2 model, the smartwatch is currently receiving a soft update that brings along a few improvements and extra functionalities.
From now on, the time-keeping wearable will take advantage of the Blocking Mode capability and will also benefit from stability improvements for S Health.
