Little Watch, Big Watch
Samsung is big on foldables and has taken that to include rollables, meaning those devices where the screen can be coiled inside of the device. Taking it to another level, Samsung has filed a patent for another rollable device; this time a watch. With typical watch displays ranging from ~1.4” to 1.9”, Samsung seems to feel that the user might need more room to see what time it is and has developed (IP) the mechanism for a rollable watch display that can increase in size just by pulling the top part of the watch frame. The increase in size was not specified but from the drawings it would seem to have double the area.
But Samsung did not stop with just a rollable display, but also includes S-Pen capabilities and the ability to turn the display from vertical orientation to horizontal without removing it from your wrist and being a ‘smart’ device, the watch itself can adjust it size according to the user’s content. So if you want to see the time, the display would stay normal size, but when reviewing an e-mail or text, the display would elongate to show more of the message or allow for larger type. When extended, the user will be able to use the under-display camera, allowing the watch to be used for taking pictures (“Bond, James Bond”) and of course, there will be no need to pair the device with a smartphone as it will operate as a standalone cellular device.
While Samsung is pushing the limits of current technology with such a device, they are not the first to patent such an idea as China’s Oppo (pvt) received a patent for a foldable watch all the way back in 2019, although it was a very different display set-up. Given the complexity of such a device (the patent is 113 pages), we expect it might be some time before Samsung makes such a watch available to consumers however the patent drawings were quite specific on how the mechanical components might work, likely more to keep others from duplicating the idea than Samsung having proved out the mechanics on a scalable basis. Interesting idea though.
But Samsung did not stop with just a rollable display, but also includes S-Pen capabilities and the ability to turn the display from vertical orientation to horizontal without removing it from your wrist and being a ‘smart’ device, the watch itself can adjust it size according to the user’s content. So if you want to see the time, the display would stay normal size, but when reviewing an e-mail or text, the display would elongate to show more of the message or allow for larger type. When extended, the user will be able to use the under-display camera, allowing the watch to be used for taking pictures (“Bond, James Bond”) and of course, there will be no need to pair the device with a smartphone as it will operate as a standalone cellular device.
While Samsung is pushing the limits of current technology with such a device, they are not the first to patent such an idea as China’s Oppo (pvt) received a patent for a foldable watch all the way back in 2019, although it was a very different display set-up. Given the complexity of such a device (the patent is 113 pages), we expect it might be some time before Samsung makes such a watch available to consumers however the patent drawings were quite specific on how the mechanical components might work, likely more to keep others from duplicating the idea than Samsung having proved out the mechanics on a scalable basis. Interesting idea though.
Samsung Rollable Smartwatch Patent - Source: WIPO
Oppo - Rollable Smartwatch (2019) Render - Source: Letsgodigital
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