A series of leaked patent sketches from Samsung reveal details about a Smartwatch being built by the company. The leaks have been sourced back to the company and show the clearest evidence yet that the company is working on a wearable wrist accessory.
Upon looking at the sketches closely, it becomes clear that the device will reflect some of the features of the Galaxy S4. It will feature at least two physical buttons and a flexible display that can go completely around the wrist.
Further sources found at Pentagon Post detail the further reveal that the company has registered itself as "Samsung Gear" in South Korea and as "Samsung Galaxy Gear" in the U.S.
Samsung's smartwatch would likely come as a means of continuing to go punch for punch with its competitor Apple Inc. in the mobile device market. Apple has reportedly been working on a wearable wrist accessory, tentatively titled the iWatch. With the new iPad expected to give Apple a boost, the last thing the South Korean tech giant needs is to lose the vast gains it's made in the mobile market against Apple.
Experts believe smartwatches will explode from 330,000 units being shipped to over five million shipped by the year 2014, after these devices from both companies are expected to come out.
Perhaps the biggest appeal of a market for wearable tech is for app developers. Wearable tech is just different enough from mobile devices that are currently on the market to introduce an entirely new way of thinking and using applications.
Samsung has filed patents on applications for three different smartwatch designs in the patent office at the beginning of this year. The most promising of which show a screen that can attach to very different wrist straps in order to accommodate all wrist sizes.
It appears that Apple won't have the market cornered on wearable technology like everyone thought. The battle between Apple's iFamily and the Samsung Galaxy Family will continue into the realm of wearable technology.
Pictures of the patent sketches in question can be found HERE.
