Samsung Launches Smartwatches in September

Samsung Electronics plans to introduce a wristwatch in September that can make phone calls, play video games and send e-mails , potentially beating its archrival, Apple, to market with a piece of technology that moves mobile communications beyond the smartphone.

The watch, called Samsung Galaxy Gear, would be shown off "around the time" of an electronics industry trade fair in Berlin that begins September 6, a person briefed on the matter said. Samsung has scheduled a media event for September 4 at which it is also expected to introduce the Note III, a new version of its "phablet," a cross between a phone and a tablet. Apple reportedly plans to show off its first wrist-worn device, expected to be called the iWatch, at a Sept. 10 event in Berlin.

Neither Galaxy Gear nor the iWatch will be the first watch phone on the market. Sony recently introduced a second-generation version of its smart watch, a gadget that works in conjunction with a smartphone in the user's pocket. Other smart devices like the Pebble Watch and the I'm Watch have also been sold for some time.

For Samsung, the idea is also not entirely new. The company introduced its first watch phone in 1999. Still, the category of smart watches remains underdeveloped, as none of the existing devices have captured the imagination of consumers.