Samsung Galaxy Gear Release Date: Smart Watch and Galaxy Note 3 Debut Sept. 4

Samsung officially confirmed its smart watch, the "Galaxy Gear," would be announced at next week's IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin, Germany, the Korea Times reported.

Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung's mobile business, confirmed the new watch will be released Sept. 4, two days ahead of the IFA fair. The watch will not feature a flexible display, despite what the original patent called for.

"We will be introducing a new wearable concept device called Galaxy Gear at our own event in Berlin on Sept. 4," Lee said. "The Gear won't have a flexible display. The new device will enhance and enrich the current smart mobile experience in many ways. It will lead a new trend in smart mobile communications. We are confident that the Gear will add meaningful momentum to the mobile industry."

The Galaxy Gear's flexible display was held up because the makers could not create a flexible battery, which would have to be attached to the back of the display. Lee said this could possibly be a feature for future versions of the smart watch.

"We have intellectual properties for patents related to the next wearable devices. Those are concepts for future products," Lee said.

Before joining Samsung in 2007, Lee was a marketing expert with L'Oreal and Unilever. She said the Galaxy Gear is geared toward a younger demographic. She also confirmed the Galaxy Note 3 would be unveiled at IFA, but she did not go into details about the company's next phablet (phone + tablet), a term invented by Samsung to describe a smartphone with a screen large enough to compare to a tablet.

"Samsung opened a new smart mobile device category back in 2011 with the introduction of the first Galaxy Note. Since then, smartphones with large screens have been a mainstream trend," Lee said. "As the creator of this category, we will introduce our customers to enhanced key features on our Galaxy Note devices."

Sony and Pebble have already released their own smart watches, but Apple, Google and Microsoft are planning to join them and Samsung with wearable devices of their own.