Last week Patently Apple posted a report titled "Prior to Samsung Unpacked Event on the 28th, Samsung files a series of Trademarks for Wearables with a strong emphasis on Smart Rings." Our report also point to two Samsung Ring patent reports that we've covered over time.

Today, The Elec reports that Samsung has begun in earnest to develop a smart ring that may take on the Galaxy branding or one the trademarks that they filed for last week. Japan's Meiko is in charge of advanced development of the Galaxy Ring PCB. There are observations that the Galaxy Ring will provide more accurate body/health information than the Galaxy Watch.

Whether it's for something new or for their 2024 XR Headset is still unknown, though another Samsung Patent (Korean patent filing) related to a ring for a future headset was noted in the report by The Elec. The patent figure from that patent is presented below.

According to industry sources, it was found that Samsung Electronics has started developing the Galaxy Ring in advance. Japan's Meiko will proceed with the advance development of rigid and flexible printed circuit boards (PCBs) required for the Galaxy Ring. PCB is a board that combines various electronic components, and it is the component with the fastest development stage.

Samsung Electronics has started developing the Galaxy Ring in advance, but it is known that the timing of mass production of the product is still unclear. In general, the term advanced development in the industry is divided into 'prior development' to materialize the product concept, and 'prior development', which refers to the stage before mass production. It is expected that Samsung Electronics will proceed with prior development with Mayco and others, make a prototype of the Galaxy Ring, and decide whether to mass-produce, when, and how much to mass-produce based on product scalability.

A Smart Ring can outperform smartwatches in terms of accuracy, such as sleep and health information. Since the smart ring is highly likely to be worn according to the thickness of the user's finger, errors caused by loosely wearing the product can be reduced. Smartwatches can be worn loosely on the wrist. However, in the smart ring, the blood flow passing through the finger is weaker than the wrist, so information accuracy may be lowered, or the smart ring may have a tight finger, which may cause an error in blood flow measurement.

The Galaxy Ring is an accessory, and personality is also a factor to consider. A smart ring may not look like an electronic device in comparison to a smart watch, but if the design elements are strengthened, the product's function is inevitably reduced. In order for Smart Ring to settle down in the market, product advantages other than improved body information measurement accuracy must be increased.

At the same time, Samsung Electronics is also applying for a smart ring patent that works with extended reality (XR) devices. Vision Pro, a mixed reality (MR) device unveiled by Apple in June, tracks the user's head and hand movements with 12 cameras and 5 sensors without a special controller. Samsung Electronics also describes a technology that collects various information through a smart ring through a recently applied patent.

Source: The Elec