Is Samsung working on a Google Glass competitor?

A new patent filing by Samsung has revealed the company is working on a set of smartphone-connected “sports glasses” to compete with Google Glass. The filing was reported by the Wall Street Journal, along with a memo the paper says was attached to the design schematics.

“This design is of a type [of glasses] with earphones integrated, allowing [users] to take phone calls and listen to music during workouts,” according to a memo attached to several drawings of the device, filed by Samsung earlier this year.

Like Google Glass, Samsung’s specs will feature “a transparent or translucent” lens atop which data can be overlaid. Users will be able to make and receive calls, play music, as well as control their smartphone hands-free.

While any sort of “smart glasses” are likely to evoke comparisons to Google Glass at this point, there seems to already be a clear differentiator between Mountain View’s spectacles and the ones Samsung is apparently working on. Glass is a standalone device that will work without being connected to other hardware, while Samsung’s glasses are designed to be connected to a smartphone, not unlike the company’s recently released Galaxy Gear smartwatch. In addition, the memo attached to the schematics along with the built-in earphones indicated in the patent filing suggest Samsung’s glasses will be centered more around workouts and general sports-use, while Google Glass is intended as an all-around lifestyle product.

Samsung has declined to comment on any future plans regarding its wearable devices.

Wearable technology is poised to be the next big thing in consumer electronics. The fad was arguably ushered in by the wildly successful Pebble Kickstarter campaign and today, the list of companies working on smartwatches, smart glasses and others includes Apple, BlackBerry, LG, Microsoft and Acer.   

Google Glass is the most high-profile wearable in development and Mountain View is currently beta-testing the device through its Explorer program. Glass is slated to debut to the public sometime in 2014.