Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy Gear smartwatch on 4 September, before the IFA trade show in Berlin, running 6-11 September, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The watch is expected to be able to make phone calls, surf the internet and handle e-mails. Samsung has not commented on the report, although the executive vice president of the group's mobile business, Lee Young Hee, told Bloomberg in March that the company was working on a watch device.
The Galaxy Gear will run the Android operating system and is expected to be released before the end of the year and before Apple's iWatch, one of the persons said. The Samsung Galaxy Gear is due to be unveiled on the same day as the Galaxy Note 3 phablet device.
The Financial Times writes that earlier smartwatches, such as Microsoft’s Spot watch and Sony’s SmartWatch, have struggled to find a public, but that Samsung could seize an advantage if it manages to convince customers to buy the Galaxy Gear. The newspaper adds that the product will probably need to be tethered to a smartphone to show messages and notifications.
