Cycling in the city can be a genuinely unpleasant experience at times. As well as having to breathe in exhaust fumes for the duration of your journey, our car-centric cities often leave scant room to dedicated bike lanes, meaning cyclists have to share the road with vehicles big and small, often resulting in accidents and near misses.
Thankfully, Samsung thinks it may have a solution to city cyclists’ woes: its new Smart Bike, which incorporates a bevy of technological wizardry and is being built in conjunction with one of the best bicycle designers in the world.
A product of the Samsung Maestros Academy, the South Korean electronics giant’s forthcoming city bike features a special shock-absorbent frame made by master frame maker Giovanni Pelizzoli for smoother, safer travel, but is built from the ground up with technology in mind.
Once a user mounts their smartphone (using powerful magnets for minimal fuss) on their handlebars, they have access to a range of safety features.
Along with the usual GPS and map applications, at the touch of a button riders can enable a built-in rear camera to watch the road behind them, activate laser pointers to mark out their space on the road, and even turn on sensors that detect ambient light levels to automatically switch built-in lights on or off, increasing a cyclist’s visibility on the road.
▼ A simple interface ensures cyclists focus on the road
▼ Watching your back
▼ See who’s behind you
▼ Warning: local cats may begin chasing you upon enabling the laser pointer function
There’s a certain amount of PR fluff and cheese to filter out in this video (“protects the rider with its technological soul”? Easy there, Samsung…), and some of the features are described only as future possibilities at this point in the bike’s development, but we can’t help thinking Samsung is on to something here, and we’d love to see more dedicated technology being built into safer, better designed bikes for city use.
Now if they could include a feature that electrocutes would-be thieves when they inevitably try to steal the bike from outside our office, we’d really be in business!
Tokyo’s new rentable bikes are a great start, but the city is still far from bike-friendly…
We ride Bridgestone’s new TB1e electric bike over 80 miles in Japan, barely wear down the battery
Cherry blossoms begin blooming in Japan with record-early starts for sakura season
Starbucks Japan releases new My Fruit³ Frappuccino at only 34 stores around the country
Pizza Hut Japan’s new ie-kei ramen pizza is here and weird, but is it tasty too? [Taste test]
Japan’s budget chain restaurant Saizeriya might just be the perfect first date location
The next time you’re feeling stressed out, you could relax on a Pokémon Psyduck chair from Japan
Artist dad doodles over snaps of baby boy with adorable results【Photos】
Umamusume food and drinks dash into real world at Family Mart convenience stores[Taste test]
Japanese government says country needs more women’s room toilets to meet modern society’s needs
One Piece creator has hidden secret of anime treasure’s identity in chest at bottom of real-world ocean
Häagen-Dazs Japan releases new ASMR ice cream called “Rocky Crunchy!”
Train station platform ramen store closes its doors on half a century of history in Tokyo
Studio Ghibli releases Catbus pullback keychain that runs like the anime character
Nine great places to see spring flowers in Japan, as chosen by travelers (with almost no sakura)
Starbucks Japan opens new cafe and art gallery in top Tokyo tourist neighbourhood
Virtual idol Hatsune Miku redesigned with look that adds new elements and brings back old ones
Studio Ghibli adds new Mother’s Day gift sets to its anime collection in Japan
Komachi Shokudo: Japanese mum’s-style cooking for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Tokyo
The top 10 graduation songs in Japan as chosen by current Japanese high school students
Pizza Hut Japan teams up with creator of one of the country’s best kinds of ramen for ramen pizza
Starbucks Japan unveils new sakura cherry blossom collection for hanami season 2026
Starbucks Japan releases new sakura goods and drinkware for cherry blossom season 2026
The 10 most annoying things foreign tourists do on Japanese trains, according to locals
Naruto and Converse team up for new line of shinobi sneakers[Photos]
Starbucks Japan releases first-ever Hinamatsuri Girls’ Day Frappuccino
Japan’s cherry blossom season predicted to start earlier than we’d thought, especially in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases a new Cream Puff Frappuccino for a limited time
Survey asks foreign tourists what bothered them in Japan, more than half gave same answer
Japan’s human washing machines will go on sale to general public, demos to be held in Tokyo
Starbucks Japan releases new drinkware and goods for Valentine’s Day
We deeply regret going into this tunnel on our walk in the mountains of Japan
Studio Ghibli releases Kodama forest spirits from Princess Mononoke to light up your home
Japan’s newest Shinkansen has no seats…or passengers [Video]
Major Japanese hotel chain says reservations via overseas booking sites may not be valid
Put sesame oil in your coffee? Japanese maker says it’s the best way to start your day【Taste test】
No more using real katana for tourism activities, Japan’s National Police Agency says