Samsung’s first smart ring might be called Curio

Last updated: August 23rd, 2023 at 15:10 UTC+02:00

Samsung’s elusive smart ring is becoming a curiosity, even though it technically doesn’t exist. At least, not yet, as a commercial device. The story so far consists of numerous trademark applications, possible monikers, and even references to smart ring support in a recent Samsung Health app beta update. Now, Samsung is throwing another detail into the mix.

The Korean tech giant has secured a new trademark for a device that the UK Intellectual Property Office categorizes under “Class 9.” This class of products consists of smart rings and software for smart rings, wearable computers, wearable digital electronic communication devices, and more.

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Samsung Curio might be the official name

Samsung filed the recent trademark application on August 22. The trademark consists of the “Samsung Curio” moniker, and as described above, the classification links the name with wearables such as smart rings and appropriate software. In light of these events, Curio — short for curiosity or a rare, unusual, or intriguing object — might be the name of Samsung’s smart ring once it’s ready to hit the market. Or it might not.

Simply put, Samsung has been securing trademarks for various wearable devices it has not yet released. At one point, the elusive smart ring was believed to be named “Galaxy Ring.” One could argue that Galaxy Ring sounds a lot more like a commercial Samsung product than Curio, but neither appears to have been set in stone yet.

It’s unclear whether the Samsung smart ring will be called the Galaxy Ring, Curio, or perhaps something else entirely. Samsung is known for trademarking monikers that don’t always become attached to real products, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Right now, the only consistent element of the Samsung smart ring story is that the company keeps reminding us of its existence through trademark applications. How close this new type of wearable product is to release, we don’t know.

In addition to the smart ring, Samsung is also working on a new XR headset, which might go on sale as the Galaxy Glasses. But unlike the Galaxy Ring / Samsung Curio, the XR headset was confirmed by Samsung and Google, and regardless of what it will be called, the product is expected to compete with the Apple Vision Pro next year.