It's no secret that the tide in the tech community is shifting toward wearable technology for consumers. The most likely candidate for a smart accessory is the wrist as Apple's rumored iWatch, poised to compete with Google's augmented reality headset the Google Glass, has gained a lot of steam in the rumor mill over the past few months. Now it seems South Korea-based Samsung is throwing its own smartwatch design into the mix. The company is set to unveil its own device next month.
The company is going to release a line of smartwatches to go along with its popular Galaxy family of mobile devices on September 4. The watch, currently rumored to be named "Galaxy Gear," will be able to make phone calls, surf the web and handle e-mails, according to two anonymous sources from Bloomberg. The device will run off of Google's Android operating system.
The date of the launch puts the smartwatch debuting only two days before the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. If this is true, it will likely come way ahead of the smartwatch from Apple, giving Samsung a leg up as the first major electronics company to dabble in wearable wrist tech accessories.
"It will carve a niche for sure as this is an initial product in the market," said Chung Chang Won, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Seoul. "Wearable devices could be one of the trends in the smartphone market, but I'm not sure yet whether watches or glasses will set the trend."
Sources close to the matter have said the company has not yet perfected flexible glass and the Galaxy Gear will therefore not feature any. The company is still working on this technology but for now the Galaxy Gear will come with a regular screen and debut the same day as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, a combination smartphone and tablet computer.
