Lenovo has unveiled a concept smartwatch that’s the first of its kind to utilise two colour displays.
The China-based company showed off the dual-screen device at Tech World Beijing, dubbing the new device ‘Magic View’.
At a glance, the Magic View looks similar to the Moto 360, sporting a round-faced display.
That’s not a huge surprise, as Lenovo owns Motorola, and so likely took design cues from the rival wearable.
The second screen is mounted just below, covering part of the strap, although it’s not immediately obvious that it’s a display.
That’s because it’s what Lenovo is calling a ‘Virtual Interactive Display’, and looks opaque at a distance.
If you hold the panel up to your eye however, you can see a full-size image, almost as if looking through a periscope.
According to Lenovo, the image you see through this display is 20 times larger than the watch’s main screen, although we’ll need to wait for a review model to test this claim ourselves.
It works through ‘optical reflection’, and allows you to view content privately, for instance reading text messages or watching videos.
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The obvious downside is that you’ll be required to keep your arm raised with your wrist against your eye to utilise the display, which is a sure fire way to develop chronic shoulder pain – and look like a prat.
Otherwise, it’s your standard smartwatch, and runs a forked OS based on Android, although it’s not using Android Wear.
Is the Magic View genuine innovation, or a pointless attempt to differentiate in the wearables space? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
