Samsung Unveils Galaxy Gear, Galaxy Note 3 Ahead Of Apple's iPhone Event (SSNLF)

Looking to make a splash before Apple AAPL holds its long-awaited press conference next week, Samsung SSNLF unveiled two new products today: Galaxy Gear and Galaxy Note 3. The latter item is a somewhat predictable upgrade with a Super AMOLED 5.7-inch display (versus the 5.5-inch display of the Galaxy Note II), 3GB of RAM and a 2.3GHz quad-core processor. Related: What Will Apple Announce In China On September 11? The new smartphone will also come with a 13MP camera and a faux leather cover alongside the back. That second element might sound like an odd design choice, but Samsung seems to be working hard to differentiate itself from the competition. The company also may want to help its products stand apart from each other, particularly when the Galaxy Mega is already available in numerous territories throughout the world. Galaxy Gear was a little less predictable, but its specs and feature set fall in line with the rumors. It is, in fact, a smart watch designed to work in conjunction with new and existing Galaxy devices. According to The Verge, Galaxy Gear is a smart watch "like no other." The device comes with a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED (320 x 320) display and a single-core 800MHz Exynos processor. More than 70 apps -- including Path and Evernote -- will be compatible with the wearable unit. While Galaxy Gear must be used with another Galaxy product (Galaxy Note III and the newly upgraded Galaxy Note 10.1 will be supported at launch), Samsung did include one standalone feature: a 1.9MP camera. The lens is located on the side of the Galaxy Gear's band. This could open up a world of split-second photo opportunities that may have been missed by someone who had to reach into a pocket and grab a smartphone. The Galaxy Gear camera can also record short videos at 720p. Samsung was not the only company to introduce a new smart watch today. Qualcomm QCOM, best known for providing key chips to smartphone manufacturers, unveiled its first smart watch -- a device called Toq. Qualcomm describes Toq as a device with a "revolutionary color touch screen" that displays "important information even in bright sunlight." Toq's display is always on and is always active. This could put a strain on most devices, but Qualcomm claims that its device was designed to use battery life more efficiently than other display types. According to Engadget, it should provide three to five days of use on a single charge. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ