Samsung to unveil 'smartwatch' next month

The Galaxy Gear will allow users to make calls, access email and even surf the Internet.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics will unveil its new Galaxy Gear "smartwatch" early next month, ahead of Apple's iWatch, Bloomberg news and a fan site said Saturday.

The Galaxy Gear, which will allow users to make calls, access email and even surf the Internet, will launch on September 4, said the sammobile.com site.

The world's top handset maker will also launch its new Galaxy Note 3 on that day, the site reported.

Bloomberg said the first version of the smart watch would not have a flexible screen.

Wearable computing, including Google's Glass eyewear, is considered as the next frontier in consumer electronics following smartphones.

In June, Sony unveiled the latest version of its SmartWatch, which links with smartphones to receive alerts about phone calls, emails and updates from social networks and also includes a music function.

Samsung's US rival Apple has long been rumoured to be working on introducing an "iWatch", which would represent the biggest gadget launch by the firm since the iPad mini last year.