Samsung Galaxy Band may be the Galaxy Gear's fitness follow-up

Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 might be the Galaxy Band, designed by Siri engineer
Samsung could be stripping things down a fair bit

It's fair to say that the Samsung Galaxy Gear was a bit of a let down for many. After all, it failed the biggest test of all by featuring heavily in TechRadar's 2013 video of tech disappointments.

But Samsung is determined to right its wrongs, and although it already announced that a second watch is on its way, this one could come with a completely new identity in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Band.

Galaxy Club, meanwhile, spotted that Samsung just had a patent published for a wristband with a flexible screen that looks like it could very well be the Galaxy Band. The device looks like it's been stripped of the camera and probably microphone too, leaving a bare-bones notification device and fitness monitor.

Good Luc

On top of all that, Luc Julia, VP of Samsung's innovation lab and former Apple engineer who oversaw the development of Siri, is said to be overseeing the project.

Julia joined Samsung in 2012 and has been heading up its Internet of Things project, SAMI (Samsung Architecture for Multimodal Interactions).

While the source suggests the Galaxy Band is a successor to the Gear, it's worth remembering that it could be an entirely new product line completely. After all, MWC doesn't match with the previous Galaxy Gear 2 release date rumours we've been hearing about.

Or has Samsung decided to cut its losses with the full-blown smartwatches and decided that fitness is the way into the wearable tech market? Hopefully all will become clear in a couple of months' time.

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Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.