Samsung Electronics applies for new trademarks for potential XR products

Tech

Published: 28 Feb. 2023, 17:44 Updated: 28 Feb. 2023, 17:48

Samsung Electronics applies for new trademarks for potential XR products

People use extended reality (XR) devices to watch a play being held at an arts center in Seoul. [NEWS1]

Samsung Electronics recently filed a series of trademarks indicating fresh designs for gadgets like smart rings, nearly a month after announcing a trilateral partnership with Google and Qualcomm for extended reality (XR) products.

XR is a catch-all phrase for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), technologies used to integrate the physical world with the digital world.

Samsung Electronics applied for a trademark for "Galaxy Ring" to the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on Feb. 23. The designated goods for the trademark include smart rings, smartphones and “smart devices for measuring health indicators and/or sleep in the form of a ring,” according to KIPO’s online database Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service.

While the Galaxy Ring’s basic function is checking the user’s health, more functions that existing smart rings provide, like making contactless payments and picking up phone calls, may be available when linked with a smartphone or a different XR device.

The trademark application for “Galaxy Glasses” was made Feb. 22. Galaxy Glasses is likely to be a wearable device like a pair of glasses with a voice service feature, as the designated goods under the trademark are VR and AR headsets, smart glasses, smartphones and headphones.

The image used for the trademark application of ″Galaxy Ring″ by the Korea Intellectual Property Office [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Both trademark applications were categorized as Class 9 products, which include electronic devices such as tablet PCs, laptops, LED displays and smartphones.

With Apple reportedly planning to launch its own XR device this year, competition for wearable devices is back in orbit.

Apple is expected to release a $3,000 XR headset dubbed “Reality Pro” during the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2023) in June, according to multiple media outlets. Reality Pro, made out of plastic materials, will be lighter than an iPhone.

Meta will also introduce a new XR headset "Oculus Quest 3" in the later half of this year.

Samsung Electronics entered the competition for XR devices last year when the company’s vice chairman Han Jong-hee announced that it is “preparing a metaverse platform device” on Feb. 28, 2022, during a visit to the Mobile World Congress (MWC), an annual mobile communications exhibition.

The head of Samsung’s smartphone business Roh Tae-moon reaffirmed that the electronics maker is still in the race with global partners, when he stood next to Qualcomm and Google’s executives to announce their partnership during Samsung’s Unpacked event on Feb. 1.

Samsung Electronics head of mobile business Roh Tae-moon, right, attends the Mobile World Congress with SK Telecom CEO Ryu Young-sang in Barcelona on Monday. [NEWS1]

Roh added more detail to Samsung’s progress in a conversation with mobile carrier SK Telecom’s CEO Ryu Young-sang during this year’s MWC in Barcelona on Monday.

“We are developing prototyping technology for XR devices,” Roh said. “[The devices] will be introduced once they are more complete and ready to enter the market.”

According to market tracker Counterpoint Research, there were some 11 million XR devices in 2021, but the number is expected to increase tenfold in 4 years to 105 million.

“The smartphone market passed its prime with products losing their competitive edge and super-high supply rates,” said Lee Kyu-ha, an analyst at NH Investment and Securities. “XR will open the new age.”

A spokesperson for Samsung Electronics said the trademark application is a move to prepare for the future market and does not mean that it will immediately launch a new product.

Samsung Electronics had filed a trademark for “Galaxy Space,” presumably an XR headset, to the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2020, and a patent for a smart ring in 2021.

BY PARK HAE-LEE, SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]