Daily Authority: ⌚ Rollable Samsung smartwatch

Rollable phones are potentially the next display-tech thing we’ll see hit the mainstream but in the works might be a rollable smartwatch, too.

A new Samsung patent filing has been examined by the patent watchers, LetsGoDigital, and it’s clearly some kind of rollable smartwatch.

• Of course, patents don’t necessarily mean products, but what we see here is a circular design that seems to spread out from the middle via a pinch-to-zoom like gesture or a tap on the crown, to open up an oval shape.
• There’s also a camera if you want to awkwardly hold your wrist up to take a photo.
• But the screen extension is the big game here, with the suggestion that it adds 40% to the overall display size.
• That turns your watch into a slightly more usable screen, though the use case for a small screen to a slightly less small screen isn’t immediately obvious, though it’d help keep your smartphone in your pocket for directions or reading longer texts or so on.
• Or, I guess, adding a keyboard to the watch but again, seems a little awkward.

Durability?

• My colleague Hadlee points out that among the considerations here for this design must be durability: it’d be pretty weird to add motors and a kind of equator to the middle of a watch and not have it be more fragile.
• Practicality will matter: Apple is being sued for not leaving enough room in the Apple Watch for battery swelling, which can lead to cracked glass and “injuries,” like cuts to arms from glass, as stated in a proposed class-action lawsuit.

???? More rumors point to a OnePlus Pad coming soon, with a launch window tipped for at least one region (Android Authority).

???? The 29 biggest announcements from The Game Awards 2021: first look at the Halo TV show, Star Wars Eclipse, and more (Polygon).

???? Best of the year lists are emerging already: CNET’sbest tech products of 2021 includes way too many products: winners in smartphones are the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, OnePlus 9, Google Pixel 6, Google Pixel 6 Pro, Apple iPhone 13 and Mini, Apple iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. With so many winners, who lost?? Anyway…

☄️ Comet Leonard, the brightest of the year, is fading and acting strange (like me!) (Space).

• This is a cool DIY production from quiet yet deep-voiced Alex Shakespeare, who has a display hooked up to a map that lets you see live footage from places like Las Vegas and Amsterdam from set-up webcams.
• Shakespeare publishes all the code and a write-up of the hardware as well in case you want to DIY!
• Speaking of, I might have to tune in to some Puffin webcams. It’s the offseason for now as the birds head out to water to weather the winter, but I like them so much!

Watching live,

Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor