Patent Filings Show Samsung's 'Galaxy Gear' Design - Wall Street Journal

Recent patent filings in the U.S. and South Korea show that Samsung Electronics Co. is gearing up to make a smart watch device using flexible screens. Samsungs patent filing of smart watch device with the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) A trademark filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office dated July 29 suggests Samsung's new watch-phone device could be called "Galaxy Gear." Samsung says the trademark is 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." In a separate filing, Samsung registered in late May with the Korean Intellectual Property Office a patent for a few specific design features of a phone that can be wrapped around a person's wrist. "This design is of a body made of flexible displays and elastic materials that can be used while wrapped around a wrist or flattened out," the document says. The document includes several drawings of what appears to be a watch phone viewed from various angles. Samsung declined to officially comment on its future products. But people familiar with the situation have said that the company is preparing a watch device. Though the concept of a watch phone has been around for a decade or more, the hype has been building around "smart watches" recently with both Apple Inc. and Samsung, prepping devices. Sony in June also showed off a wristwatch-like device that connects with most smartphones running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Analysts covering the display industry say it will take at least a couple of years for them to mass produce flexible screens, raising doubt as to whether a smart watch device with a flexible screen will be launched this year. Another challenge is making the batteries. In an interview earlier this year, Park Sang-jin, chief executive of Samsung SDI Co., which supplies batteries for Samsung's Galaxy smartphones, said it would take three or four years to manufacture a battery that can be bent freely and then flattened out. He did say that batteries with a slightly curved shape that can be used for watch phones will be ready in the second half. Separately, Samsung sent out invitations earlier this week for a product launch event in Berlin on Sept. 4, generating some buzz surrounding its upcoming products. The event dubbed "Samsung Unpacked 2013 Episode 2" says to "Note The Date 04.09.2013 Berlin." This seems to be hinting at the next Galaxy Note device from Samsung. The current Note device is a phablet –a crossover between a smartphone and a tablet –that has an 5.5-inch screen. It is one of Samsung's best-selling smartphones to date. via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHYJJr1IFVIJv6YCLIU0V_o5Eptkg&url=http://stream.wsj.com/story/gadget-wars/SS-2-51456/SS-2-295056/

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