Samsung's next smartwatch may circle the Moto 360

Samsung's next smartwatch may circle the Moto 360
Does the Moto 360 need to watch its back?

Smartwatches are cool pieces of tech, but the likes of the Samsung Gear Live, LG G Watch and Sony Smartwatch 2 haven't exactly pushed the boundaries of wearable design and elegance.

The Motorola Moto 360 on the other hand - is the smartwatch everyone is talking about. That's mainly because of its circular display, with the more traditional watch shape being more appealing to the masses and it looks like Samsung may follow suit.

A recent trio of patents spotted by MobileGeeks seems to depict a range of Samsung smartwatches sporting decidedly more circular displays.

Two of the designs clearly have round displays, although the third is more of a square with rounded corners.

Samsung smartwatch patents

The two round designs (credit: MobileGeeks)

Wrist eruption

The volcanic shaped camera lens which adorned the original Galaxy Gear appears to make a return on all three patent designs, although it's not quite as in your face this time around.

The cameras on the strap are apparently linked to a new gesture recognition system for the smartwatches, but there's precious little detail about this.

Samsung smartwatch patent

The squarer offering (credit: MobileGeeks)

It's not clear whether these designs are meant for the Android Wear ecosystem or Samsung's own Tizen platform which adorns the Gear 2, Gear Fit and co.

One thing is for sure, we can expect more wearable tech from the Korean giant in the near future. All eyes are on IFA 2014 at the start of September.

Source: USPTO 1, 2, 3

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.