Samsung confirms circular display for its next-generation Gear smartwatch

We’ve revealed a lot of details about Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch, which is codenamed as Project Orbis, but the most important bit was about its form factor. We’ve revealed in the past that Orbis would feature a circular display, unlike any other smartwatch from the company, and Samsung seems to have indirectly confirmed it in its official blog. Samsung has announced that it will release an SDK for the company’s next-generation smartwatch even before the official unveiling of the product, which would be the first time for the company. In the accompanying image, you can see a teaser image of the smartwatch with a circular display.

It would be the company’s seventh generation Gear smartwatch, and Samsung is looking to develop a complete ecosystem around it. Interested developers can have an early access to the software development kit for the upcoming smartwatch. The South Korean smartphone giant seems to have collaborated with Yelp, CNN, Baidu, FidMe, and Apposter already, and is looking to tie up with more partners before the actual announcement of the product.

You can see a couple of round watch faces in the image, which appear to have fresh designs. JK Shin, CEO and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics, said, “Samsung has actively adapted its approach to wearable device development as the leader of the rapidly developing category. Through meaningful and progressive innovation, Samsung welcomes to developers and industry leaders to join this open collaboration effort to enrich and create unique user experiences for a new smart mobile life.”

Samsung seems to have changed its thought process, and is working on a ‘perfect’ smartwatch, as stated by the company’s EVP, to better compete with the Apple Watch. We’ve previously revealed that this smartwatch will be named as Gear A, and will run Tizen. There will be two variants of the device, a basic one with Bluetooth connectivity, and the other with 3G connectivity and voice calling ability. It will also feature Wi-Fi, a rotating bezel ring, a crown shaped power button, and wireless charging. Samsung will most probably tie up with all the major carriers around the world to offer the Gear A on their networks.

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