Google will reportedly use Samsung’s organic light-emitting diode technology (OLED) in Google Glass – a wearable computer that should be available for consumers by the end of this year.
A Korea Times report cited sources as saying that the company’s top management recently approved a proposal by Samsung Display, which would enable the South Korean company’s OLED displays to be used on Google Glass.
“Samsung will supply its high-end OLED screens for Google Glass. This is a really big thing because its means that Google shares confidential data with Samsung on its futuristic projects,” an executive at one of Samsung Display’s local parts suppliers said in the report.
Google CEO Larry Page is said to have recently inspected Samsung Display’s OLED production lines in Tangjeong and received a brief about details of the business.
In a key note speech on Thursday at the Society for Information Display forum in Canada, Samsung Display CEO Kim Ki-nam also hinted that OLED on silicon could be used for glasses-type, augmented-reality devices much like Google Glass, according to the report.
There have been reports that Google is concerned over Samsung’s dominance, but that was dismissed by Sundar Pichai, the new head of Android. Samsung’s Galaxy S4 recently passed 10 million channel sales within one month of its launch, becoming the company’s fastest-selling phone ever.
Earlier this month, a report by Strategy Analytics said Samsung was the “undisputed king of the global Android smartphone industry” for now, and that it believed Samsung generates more revenue and profit from the Android platform than Google.
In a sign of closer cooperation, Google recently took the step of announcing a new version of S4 running stock Android (version 4.2.2), which will be available on Google Play starting June 26. Google’s Nexus 10 tablet is also manufactured by Samsung.
Image Credit: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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