Wearables: Watch9 & sweat power
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 9 is reportedly ready and expected to improve sleep and heart‑rate tracking — some analysts think it could finally outpace Garmin in fitness features and ecosystem. Separately, Japanese engineers are prototyping sweat‑powered biofuel cells that could charge health patches and tiny wearables, and the overall wearables market is forecast to hit about $183.2B by 2031. (techradar.com) (thecooldown.com) (openpr.com)
GSMA/IMEI listings and leak trackers have surfaced identifiers for Samsung’s next wearables — listing the Galaxy Watch 9 and an Ultra follow‑up with model IDs reported as SM‑L345U (Watch 9) and SM‑L716U (Ultra 2) and pointing to a summer 2026 Galaxy Unpacked reveal. (smartwatchinsight.com) Supply‑chain leaks put the 44mm Galaxy Watch 9’s rated battery at about 435 mAh (part number EB‑BL355BAY), a figure cited in recent SamMobile and Android Authority reports. (sammobile.com) Samsung’s own technical brief on its next BioActive sensor says the company more than doubled photodiode performance (reducing required photodiodes from eight to four), added Blue/Yellow/Violet/Ultraviolet LEDs alongside expanded Green/Red/IR arrays, and highlighted a 30% improvement in heart‑rate accuracy during intense exercise plus a planned Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) index. (news.samsung.com) Chipset and platform leaks indicate Samsung may pair improved sensors with more efficient silicon — Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite has been linked to upcoming Galaxy wearables and industry reporting includes rumors of a dual‑chip approach to separate high‑performance and low‑power tasks to extend real‑world endurance. (androidauthority.com) Tokyo University of Science researchers led by Associate Professor Isao Shitanda published an ACS Applied Engineering Materials paper and a university press release describing a water‑based “enzyme ink” that enables single‑pass screen printing of complete enzymatic biofuel cells onto paper substrates for wearable patches. (tus.ac.jp) Independent lab reporting of the TUS device shows peak power density around 165 µW/cm² (≈1,065 µW/in²), operating across sweat lactate concentrations of roughly 1–25 mmol/L with an open‑circuit voltage near 0.63 V — metrics the team says are sufficient to run low‑power biosensors and short‑range transmitters in trials. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) Market research models project global wearable technology revenue near $183.2 billion by 2031, a forecast cited by industry analysts that frames why vendors are investing both in sensor‑rich smartwatches and in scalable, battery‑free sensor manufacturing methods. (alliedmarketresearch.com)
