A couple of years ago, many were asking themselves if smartwatches and other wearables were ever going to have a place in the tech world…and as we all know, that question has been answered with a resounding, ‘YES!’ Many people are still not buying until the second and third generations fall by the wayside – if they cost $50 like a Fossil Watch, it would be one thing, but when we have to shell out $200 – $400 a device, many take a wait and see attitude. There is no doubt that the smartwatches being produced today – the LG G Watch R, the Moto 360, the Sony SmartWatch 3 and the Samsung Gear S – are much better than their predecessors, and we can only dream of what is to come next.
Samsung was certainly not the first company to produce a smartwatch, but they have certainly been churning them out once they got started – Samsung Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, Gear Live, Gear Fit and Gear S. This entire line of smartwatches had one thing in common…they were all in a rectangle shape…never a round faced smartwatch from Samsung. Meanwhile, the Motorola Moto 360 made its long awaited debut, followed up by the LG G Watch R. These two watches had two things in common…they were both round and they were turning heads everywhere – a fact that was not lost on Samsung.
For those of you that were wondering if Samsung was going to bring out a round smartwatch, the answer would be a ‘yes.’ Even though Samsung has brought out some of the most technically advanced and futuristic smartwatches to market – the Gear S is a standalone that can even make and receive phone calls by itself – many are still waiting for the more traditional round faced watch. The upcoming Samsung watch, code named ‘Orbis,’ will receive the ‘R’ designation in its model number, ala the LG G Watch R…SM-R720 and will be running Tizen out of the box.
Last month, our source, took us to the patent office where Samsung appears to be working on a round smartwatch operated by a ring around the outside of the display. This patent dates back to 2013, so it is obvious that Samsung has been working on this round display with a rotating ring for quite some time and might also explain why it is taking longer to materialize. Samsung has kept it low-keyed at CES and many believe that Samsung is saving this big announcement for the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) just a month and a half away. Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know if you are looking forward to a round smartwatch from Samsung…as always, we would love to hear from you.