Samsung Said to Introduce Watch-Like Phone Next Month

[Bloomberg]

Warren Beatty stars in the 1990 film ‘Dick Tracy’. Photograph by Everett Collection

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) will introduce a wristwatch-like device named the Galaxy Gear next month that can make phone calls, surf the Web and handle e-mails, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Galaxy Gear will be powered by Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android operating system and go on sale this year to beat a potentially competing product from Apple Inc. (AAPL), the people said. The device will be unveiled Sept. 4, two days before the IFA consumer electronics showbegins in Berlin, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the plans are private.

Asia’s biggest technology company is racing other electronics makers, including Sony Corp. (6758), to create a new industry of wearable devices as the market for top-end handsets nears saturation. The global watch industry will generate more than $60 billion in sales this year, and the first companies to sell devices that multitask could lock customers into their platform, boosting sales of smartphones, tablets and TVs.