With Google making waves with the limited release of its foray into wearable technology, the Google Glass smartglasses, other tech giants are looking into similar products that will keep them competitive with Google's product. Now new patents from Samsung indicate that it will be among the first to produce a smartglass product.
According to The Wall Street Journal, patent authorities on Thursday published an invention from Samsung that shows eyewear that connects to a smartphone device. The glasses include earphones that allow users to listen to phone calls or music. According to reports, the eyewear shows information from the phone running on the smartglass' lenses. According to the patent, the lenses can be transparent or not depending on the usage needs of the person wearing them.
The device proposed form Samsung is very similar to the Google Glass though it appears to be more of an accessory to a smartphone than a device that can stand alone as a gadget in its own right like the Google Glass.
The Journal reports that the Samsung-inspired device will gear more toward athletic customers with a more "sporty" design and tech specification.
Should Samsung actually go public with this device it will be the latest in its continued efforts to bring wearable tech devices into the mainstream. The company recently released a smartwatch device to augment its Galaxy family of smartphones. The Samsung "Galaxy Gear" wrist accessory allows users to check texts, e-mail and particular apps. It can also take phone calls and has a speaker enabled in it so you can speak directly into it and carry on a phone conversation.
There's no word yet on exactly what features the device will have that are different or similar to the Google Glass. While a patent doesn't necessarily mean the product will ever hit store shelves, it would make sense for Samsung to be working on a device exactly like the one they've placed a claim on. Only time will tell if customers are in for a smartglass device from the South Korean Tech giant.
