The smartwatch wars haven't even begun yet, but the conflict is heating up as three leaked images of a Samsung device called "Altius" hit the Internet.
The screenshots were reportedly posted on a Korean message board, in which the topic of discussion wasn't even whether or not a Samsung smartwatch is in the works. Rather, forum members were already debating its place in the market as if its release was guaranteed.
For what it's worth, one of the pictures has the words "Galaxy Altius" placed prominently in the center of it. Another shows off a clock display, while the third portrays what looks kind of like a Windows-8 style interface featuring the time of day and an email app.
The images were discovered by Slashgear, although the web site did not link to the message board they originated from. There's been no confirmation that the pictures are of a smartwatch display, or that they're real.
Each image has a size of 500 x 500 pixels, though it's unknown whether that means the screen resolution is 500 x 500 or if that is simply the size of the picture.
There's also speculation that the "Altius" name could be used in the next flagship Galaxy phone. For months now, reports have simply referred to it as the "Galaxy S4," but some research shows that Samsung has never actually used the number "four" in any of its product lines. That's because the number is unlucky in Korean; it can mean "kill" in the native tongue, and it sounds like "death" in Chinese and Japanese. It's possible that "Altius" could be the new name for a series that includes a smartwatch and next-gen smartphone line.
The new rumors come only a few days after it was reported that Apple is currently developing a smartwatch of its own, dubbed the "iWatch." The Cupertino-based company is rumored to have 100 people working on such a device, and it's speculated that the watch would feature a curved glass, 1.5-inch OLED display, and run on iOS.
Both Apple and Samsung would be playing catch-up in the arena considering Pebble has already started shipping its smartwatches to customers, but it's pretty much a no-brainer that whenever they enter the market the world will take notice.
