Dual Display on Samsung Smartwatch — So?

Dual Display on Samsung Smartwatch — So?

Unless you’re an avid watch collector you’d agree that wristwatches (in their current avatar at least) are living on borrowed time.

The wristwatch is one of the select few objects, that still lives in public memory and reality -despite courting obsolescence.

Yet, for their nemeses — smartwatches — one has to forgo the very question of pragmatism!

A smartwatch is still a template of privilege, one that thrives not on any distinct capabilities, but on how many devices it can emulate (read: copy), not replace.

It is hard to tell if this is a troubling prospect or an encouraging one — the timeline of progress dictates the old to make way for the new. But if the new arrival is just an amalgam of the old, then it is novelty, not progress.

Whatever popularity (can’t call it success, yet) smartwatches have experienced, is not because they’re ingenious as a product, but because they’ve been able to act as a probable all-in-one solution for modernism.

For now, a smartwatch can at best serve as a makeshift backup option. OK for something, but not good for everything.

And thus, the quest to find a smartwatch’s USP must go on.

Someone at Chip-Monks termed smartwatches as “razzmatazz — whose time has not come”. I tend to agree — the smartwatch may have some reason for existence in the future, but at the moment, it doesn’t really make a spot for itself in the world crowded with devices and wearable fitness trackers.

Consider this — they are threatening to act in the same manner as smartphones.

A smartphone replaces the need of a stopwatch, timer, wall clock, thermometer, weather map, GPS and what not. In turn, a smartwatch aims to replace the smartphone itself. But it seems highly improbable, till the solution of a flexible display is found.

Different companies are working to that end — LG, Samsung, Microsoft and even a little-known entity called the Moxi Group from China. Each have their own novel approach, use different materials and perhaps have different outcomes in mind.

Samsung is one of the companies that has been working on a flexible displays for the longest period. They’ve now come up with a new approach to a smartwatch, and the prospect seems to be workable, in theory. We heard about this approach through a patent application that Samsung filed, titled “Display Device And Smart Watch”.

What is interesting about Samsung’s proposed watch is that it is made up of not just one but two displays. The primary display, a round screen dispenses the generic functions, while the second display is built around the rim of the watch. This means that there’s no real bezel on the watch (scratch alert on!)

As per speculations, this secondary display will use it’s ribbon shape to carry specific information that doesn’t need to be portrayed on the main display.
The big benefit being that the user would not need to turn on the display to view critical information like the time — she could simply glance on the rim of the watch! Other information that could be displayed here may be about the weather, date or notifications.
I am reminded of the edge display that Samsung’s current flagship smartphones carry — this ribbon display could well carry similar intimation-related info, and not so much interactive information.

But, as we mentioned at the top of this article, this is seems like another attempt to mimic and replace the smartphone. But the intent is baffling, for most of the users consider the smartwatch as a device of respite, a step away from their phones. Adding more and more smartphone-specific features belies the minimalist benefits of a smartwatch — and may make the choice confusing. At best, it mayn’t serve that basic purpose of respite. Much like the Yotaphone with the e-ink screen at the back — while it did something new, it didn’t do anything that we really needed or wanted, or were missing. Hence it never really went anywhere as a product, and disappeared sooner than it appeared.

The secondary display is a novel concept, we cannot deny it. But in the end, it is just a concept. The patent has been filed, but it is highly possible that this concept might not be a part of the production process anytime soon. But it will be highly interesting for us to watch the trends, eh?

Originally published at Chip-Monks.