Samsung Galaxy Gear Unveiling Tipped For Sept. 4 Along With Galaxy Note 3; Smart Watch May Feature Dual-Core Exynos Chip, 2MP Camera

Supporting earlier rumors about a joint unveiling of Samsung’s (KRX:005935) Galaxy Gear smart watch and Galaxy Note 3 in early September, a new report said on Saturday that the South Korean tech giant would introduce both the devices on Sept. 4, two days before the IFA 2013 kicks off in Berlin.

The Galaxy Gear, a wristwatch-like device that's capable of making phone calls, browsing the Internet and sending e-mail, will be powered by Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system and is likely to go on sale later this year, according to a Bloomberg report.

The report said that Samsung is eyeing a new industry of wearable devices as the market for high-end smartphones is apparently nearing saturation. With the worldwide watch industry is estimated to generate over $60 billion in 2013, the first companies to sell new devices with multitasking capabilities are expected to attract more customers to their platform.

“It will carve a niche for sure as this is an initial product in the market,” Chung Chang Won, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Seoul, told Bloomberg. “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.”

According to a recent forecast by market analysis firm Canalys, worldwide shipments of smart watches will exceed five million units in 2014, a figure that is more than 15 times the 330,000 units shipped in 2012 and 10 times the 500,000 units expected to ship by the end of 2013.

The Bloomberg report suggested that Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, which is not likely to feature the rumored flexible display, would be up against a potentially competing device from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), a remark, which tends to strengthen earlier rumors about the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant’s iWatch.

The report said that Apple has a team of about 100 designers who are currently developing a watch-like device, which may be introduced toward the end of this year.

Meanwhile, SamMobile came up with a report on Friday in which it leaked a number of expected features and specifications of the Galaxy Gear. According to the report, based on information from an “anonymous tipster,” the Samsung smart watch is likely to be powered by Exynos 4212 dual-core processor, clocking at 1.5GHz, and it may have 1GB of RAM.

Other Galaxy Gear specs may include an ARM Mali-400 MP4 GPU, a 1.67-inch (320×320) AMOLED screen, a two-megapixel camera, and Bluetooth and NFC connectivity.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Note 3, the other device expected to be unveiled at Samsung Unpacked 2013 Episode 2, is rumored to feature a 5.7-inch AMOLED display, 3GB of RAM and the Exynos 5 Octa processor or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor for some models of the device. Rumors also suggest the smartphone could feature a 13-megapixel camera and the new Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.