All eyes on Samsung as smartwatch is finally unveiled

Samsung’s hotly anticipated smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, allows users to make calls, receive texts and emails, and take photos.

JK Shin, head of Samsung’s mobile division, predicted the Galaxy Gear — effectively a mobile phone you wear on your wrist — would become “a new fashion icon through the world” as he launched the device at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin.

The smartwatch has a touchscreen of just over 4cm in a brushed-steel mount and wrist strap in six colours. Contrary to rumours, it does not have a flexible screen.