Galaxy Gear 2 To Feature Curved Display
A few days ago we told you about Samsung’s intention to enter the head mounted display market; a recent report from Korea Times, cites sources from the South Korean company that hinted that Samsung is going to release a Google Glass inspired wearable computer named “Galaxy Glass“. The same report also suggests the South Korean company is going to release the next generation of its smartwatch, the Samsung Galaxy Gear, in the coming months with a curved display. After recent rumors that Apple’s upcoming smartwatch, the iWatch, may include biosensors (due to the company’s recent wave of hirings), we now have rumors about Samsung’s second generation Galaxy Gear, rumors that suggest the next generation Galaxy Gear will sport a unique curved display.
Unnamned sources claim the second generation Samsung Galaxy Gear will be released this March or April, so we may have a new Galaxy Gear unveiled and released next month. Samsung released its first smartwatch, the galaxy Gear, last year in September with the third generation Galaxy Note phablet, at IFA 2013 in Berlin. A March release of the second generation Galaxy Gear would be exactly half a year after the first generation’s release, which is a very short period of time. But that’s not really surprising as Samsung is known as a company that rushes to be the first to launch a certain product; that could explain why the Samsung Galaxy Gear was received negatively.
According to previous Samsung statements, the second generation Galaxy Gear will be launched together with the Samsung Galaxy S5 (just like the first generation Galaxy Gear launched together with the Galaxy Note 3) this Spring and the location for the unveiling is rumored to be London. We mentioned above that the first generation Galaxy Gear was received negatively. That’s because Samsung rushed it to the market in order to release it before Apple’s rumored iWatch, which Samsung executives probably thought was going to be released a month later, in October 2013. The Samsung galaxy Gear was criticized for its unappealing design, poorly designed user interface, the lack of apps and the dependence on Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets (though as we mentioned, a few hackers recently managed to pair the Galaxy Gear smartwatch with the recently released Nexus 5 smartphone – read about it here).
Despite the less than stellar launch, Samsung officials claimed the Galaxy Gear was a success, claiming it sold around 800,000 units worldwide. If that seems too high, considering the negative reception of the Samsung Galaxy Gear, you’re right and it seems that analysts thought exactly the same thing as they explained that Samsung’s numbers actually represent the number of shipped Galaxy Gear units and not the number of sold Galaxy Gear units. As you can see the difference between shipped units and actual sales is quite big and it better reflects the state of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
As we mentioned, the recent report from Korea Times claims the second generation Galaxy Gear smartwatch will feature a curved OLED display. Besides the rumored curved display, the second generation Galaxy Gear will also feature more functions than the first generation. This would not be Samsung’s first product with a curved display; that honor was reserved to the Samsung Galaxy Round, which was released last year in South Korea, on October 10th. Even before the Samsung Galaxy Round, Samsung showed at last year’s Consumer Electronics Expo (CES 2013) its flexible OLED display, the Samsung YOUM.
Speaking of flexible and curved displays, recent rumors suggest the iWatch will feature not just biosensors, but also a curved display. The leaked images suggested a bracelet like display, similar to the Nike Fuelband. Since both the iWatch and the second generation Galaxy Gear are wearable computers, we wouldn’t be surprised if both featured a curved display similar to that of the Nike Fielband, especially since they are both devices that will be worn on the wrist, just like the Nike Fuelband activity tracker.
However, flexible displays are a bit harder to manufacture than curved displays and the fact that there are no smartphones with flexible OLED displays on the market at the moment proves the difficulties of manufacturing a flexible display. Such a display needs to be both thin and resistant at the same time and that’s not an easy task for manufacturers. Not to mention it of course needs to have touch capabilities too. The good news is that it would be easier to implement a flexible display in a smaller device, such as a smartwatch, than in a smartphone or tablet. We won’t have much longer to wait as March and April are just around the corner. Would you five another chance to the Galaxy Gear? We are very interested to see how the second generation of the Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch will look like and if it will feature a curved (and maybe even flexible) OLED display. We would love to hear your thoughts on the upcoming second generation Galaxy Gear smartwatch, so leave us a message in the dedicated section below.
