That a company registers a patent for a new product or technology does not necessarily mean that it is already under active development, but it can be an interesting look at what the future holds. In the specific case of Samsung , it could be a Galaxy Watch with a roll-up screen .
This is what the documentation that was revealed in the last hours through LetsGo Digital (via The Verge) reveals this. The South Korean company patented at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) a smartwatch that is capable of increasing in size if the user so requires . Although the information was known yesterday, the records date from last June.
According to available information, Samsung designed a version of the Galaxy Watch that “hides” a complex mechanism with a roll-up screen. At first glance it would look like just another smart watch, with the traditional circular format; but with a simple gesture it would be possible to extend the panel and increase its size by 40% , adopting a pill format.
Image: LetsGo Digital The diagrams that accompany the patent are quite clear with respect to what the user experience would be like with a device of this type. Samsung's idea for an expandable Galaxy Watch is far from conventional but, if realized in the future, it could mark a revolution in the smartwatch market.
The images show that the most compact version of the device is made up of two semicircles joined by a central bridge. Under the latter would be located the gears that would keep the sections of the rolling screen hidden when not in use. And the other great peculiarity of the gadget is that in the central sector it would include a camera capable of taking photos and recording videos ; It is not yet clear if the sensor would be visible all the time, although it is implied that the rest of the central frame would also have screen pixels. So could it be an under-screen camera with similar technology to that implemented by Xiaomi in the Mix 4? For now it is impossible to know.
Image: LetsGo Digital
A Samsung Galaxy Watch rollable for multimedia consumption?
As we mentioned at the beginning, that a company patents a technology or a product design does not mean that we will see it materialize in the short term. However, they allow us to understand what the vision is for the future of some of your existing products. In the case of the rolling Galaxy Watch, Samsung seems to be clear that the idea of expanding the smartwatch screen would favor multimedia consumption .
In one of the images you can clearly see the drawing of Thor in Avengers: Infinity War. We can argue for long hours about the convenience of watching a movie or an episode of a series on a wristwatch; Despite this, it seems that South Koreans believe it could be part of a logical evolution.
Image: LetsGo Digital Just as it is already possible to listen to music offline through Spotify on smartwatches like the Apple Watch or the Galaxy Watch with WearOS, the jump to the image could be the next big challenge. In any case, for this to happen, these devices should no longer be mere accessories for a smartphone .
Samsung has spent several years experimenting with unconventional screen types, but so far we have not seen practical applications like the one that this roll-up Galaxy Watch would propose. The technology is certainly not 100% new. In recent years we have already seen some implementations on smartphones and televisions; however, it still seems that we are far from reaching a massive implementation .
