Samsung's Galaxy Gear smartwatch to clock in Sept. 4

Apple's long-rumored iWatch might be beaten to the market by a Samsung alternative, according to one Samsung executive.Speaking to Korea Times in an interview published on Tuesday, Samsung's executive vice president of mobile Lee Young-hee said that the company plans to unveil a smartwatch on September 4, to be known as "Galaxy Gear."According to Lee, Gear will be a "concept device." It's not clear whether that means it won't launch soon or if Samsung is using the "concept" moniker as a marketing ploy.Speaking to Korea Times, Lee said that the Gear will have a "non-flexible display," but declined to provide further details.Samsung has been rumored to be working on a smartwatch for quite some time. The company had not confirmed that until today. Samsung plans to hold a special press event on September 4 in Berlin, just a couple of days before this year's IFA confab. In addition to unveiling the Galaxy Gear, Lee said that Samsung will be showing off the new Galaxy Note 3 at IFA. Lee again declined to provide details on that device.Smartwatch shipments are expected to grow in leaps and bounds in the coming years. According to recent data from Juniper Research, app-enabled smartwatch shipments will hit a little over 1 million this year. By 2018, however, that figure will jump to 36 million.