Earlier this month, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Samsung that reveals a possible new design form factor for their Galaxy Gear. The first iteration of Samsung's Galaxy Gear looked rushed just so that they could be on record as having a next generation digital wristwatch ahead of Apple. In the Galaxy Gear part deux, we see a more advanced concept that could replace the current Galaxy Gear which debuted in early September. In the Android world, the race to sell new companion wearable computers is really beginning to ramp up. A New Motorola wristwatch like device popped up in the US Patent and Trademark Office database earlier this month and of course Google's Glass is on track to enter the market in the next 12-15 months.
A Brief Peek at a Possible Future Version of Samsung's Galaxy Gear
One of Samsung's latest inventions provides us with a peek at a method and apparatus for displaying information on a future portable terminal such as the Galaxy Gear which adjusts a display location on a screen such that a user's field of vision is secured when the portable terminal is bent to be worn on the wrist.
According to Samsung, the portable terminal will be able to deform in bending, folding, distorting, curving and the like. For example, the portable terminal will be able to roll in a scroll fashion and can be curved (or bendable) like paper.
Samsung's patent FIG. 1 illustrates that a portable bent to wrap a user's wrist. In general, a user watches a flexible display as if the user watches a wristwatch. Since a screen is bent, the user can turn a wrist on which the portable terminal is worn in order to see information located beyond a field of vision.
In Samsung's patent FIG. 2 noted below we see that a portable terminal is bent around when both ends 1191 and 1192 are engaged. In patent FIG. 3 we see that the engagement unit has a mechanical and electrical structure. In particular, the portable terminal can detect that the both ends are engaged by means of a built-in engagement unit. Alternatively, the first end may include a sensor such as a proximity sensor, a magnetic sensor or a photo sensor, and the second end may include a trigger for the sensor. When the ends are fully engaged, the member triggers the sensor which turns on the device.
In Samsung' patent FIG. 5 we're presented with a high level block diagram of the invented portable terminal which includes such units such as communications, input/output, camera, video and audio codecs, speaker, microphone, sensors and more.
The portable terminal includes a cellular phone, a Personal Communication System (PCS), a Personal Data Assistant (PDA), an International Mobile Communication-2000 (IMT2000) terminal, a fourth-generation broadband system terminal and the like.
Samsung notes that a sensor detects a physical situation of the portable terminal and reports the detected situation back to the controller. For example, the sensor includes a gravity sensor, a rotation sensor, an acceleration sensor, a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, a temperature sensor and the like.
In Samsung's patent FIG. 9 above we see the adjusting of a display location on a screen of a portable terminal. When a user turns their wrist, the controller receives from the gravity sensor the gravity direction and the angle R2 by which the portable terminal rotates relatively with respect to the gravity direction.
Samsung's patent FIG. 10 illustrates a method of determining a display location on a screen in a portable terminal.
Samsung filed their patent application under serial number 797183 in March 2013 in the US and March 2012 in Korea. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.
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