Following the leaking of screenshots thought to show a new Samsung smart watch, the rumour-mill around the impending release of smart watches by major industry players is working overtime.
The screenshots emerged on a Korean message board (discovered by SlashGear) where the main topic of conversation was how well a Samsung smart watch would fit into the market.
According to the screenshots, the device is dubbed the Samsung Galaxy Altius - although this name has previously been linked to rumours of the Galaxy S4.
From the screenshots a network connection was also clearly visible, leading to speculation that the device could have its own data connection.
This would be a departure from other similar devices that have to be paired with a mobile device, and could potentially mean the smart watch itself can make and receive calls. Other features picked up from the images include a map app, music player and, of course, a clock.
It has been noted that Samsung would most likely choose a variation of the Android operating system to run on the smart watch, although this is not clear from the screenshots.
Talk of a Samsung smart watch follows recent reports by Bloomberg, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, which claimed Apple has a large team of product designers working on a curved glass "iWatch". The Bloomberg report also said Apple was well beyond the experimentation phase.
There are already other smart watches in the market, although it remains to be seen if the concept will strike a chord with consumers.
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, it was announced that the Pebble smart watch, which received $10.2 million in crowd funding via Kickstarter, was to begin shipping to its project backers in January and would be made generally available in "six to eight weeks".
The Pebble has been pegged as the "first watch built for the 21st century" and features a 1.26-inch e-ink display, and can pair with Android and iOS devices via Bluetooth. The device can be used to wirelessly control certain functions on a smartphone, view text messages and manage incoming calls.
Sony has also released its own 'SmartWatch' which can be paired with Android-based smartphones and has an accompanying mobile app, which allows users to manage its apps and settings.
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