South Korean tech company Samsung chose the recent IFA tech show in Berlin to unveil its latest innovation – the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

The timepiece was showcased for the first time at the event, with the company’s representatives highlighting its colour screen and its ability to show alerts, run apps and make telephone calls.

Given Samsung’s current standing as the world’s most successful smartphone manufacturer, hype around the device has been building rapidly. The announcement also means the company has beaten a number of its biggest rivals to the punch.

Microsoft and Apple are yet to confirm releases and Google, as we reported recently, has acquired smartwatch specialist WIMM Labs but hasn’t revealed any details of what it hopes to achieve through the collaboration.

Speaking about the release, technology analyst from the Davies Murphy Group consultancy, Chris Green, said:

“The introduction of the Galaxy smartwatch comes as no surprise to the industry, which has been expecting Samsung to beat the likes of Apple – as well as watchmakers and other consumer electronics companies – to market.”

Samsung did confirm at the show in Germany that consumers would be required to own one of its Galaxy smartphones in order to use the watch properly. Green went on to say:

“Consumers might be a bit disappointed to find that the smartwatch is a partner device reliant on being paired with a Samsung Android smartphone or tablet, rather than being the completely autonomous media and communications device many consumers were expecting and hoping for.”

The Galaxy Gear is the latest major development in the wearable tech trend, which some say is being spearheaded with Google and its impending ‘Glass’ device. The Galaxy Gear will have something of a head start, however, with a full release scheduled for September 25; it is expected to cost approximately £190 for UK consumers.

Graeme Parton

Graeme has experience creating content for online sources and for the radio, and at university he studied Multimedia Journalism.