Smartwatches might be extremely small compared to smartphones, but the method of input is the same on both: touchscreens. With the Apple Watch, Apple added a secondary way of operating a smartwatch by taking the crown found on mechanical watches and turning it into a digital crown that can be used for functions like zooming in and out. Well, it looks Samsung is looking at doing something similar with another traditional feature found in watches – a new design patent awarded to the company shows a round smartwatch operated by a ring around the display.

For those unaware, such rings are usually found on sports watches and used as a means of showing the time in different regions. Samsung’s patent dates back to 2013, suggesting the company has been working on the idea of a rotating ring on a smartwatch for quite some time. It’s possible the company’s upcoming round smartwatch – which we reported on exclusively earlier this year – will use such a ring, though it cannot be said for certain if it will be seen on a commercial product anytime soon.

Via I Source