Hasta La Gadget!

Last week Samsung announced a number of new products, the Galaxy Gear smartwatch was one of them. Samsung finally unveiled its much rumored smartwatch, which costs about $299 in the U.S. Initially, there will be 70 apps available for this device. Snapchat has already revealed its offering for the Galaxy Gear. Called Snapchat Micro, the app allows users to send snaps to their friends directly from their smartwatch.

The app lets users take pictures through the Galaxy Gear’s 1.4 megapixel camera. Once they’ve snapped a picture, users can then select the time that they want their picture to appear on the recipients device, select the recipients and then hit send. If the users wants to add a caption to their picture or add a drawing, Snapchat Micro app will automatically open up the picture on its counterpart on the user’s smartphone. Right now the Galaxy Gear smartwatch is only compatible with Galaxy Note 3, Samsung’s latest phablet, which was also unveiled last week. Samsung says that the Android 4.3 update for Galaxy S4 will bring compatibility to the smartphone as well, the update is expected to be released in October. Even Spiegel, the founder of Snapchat, says that Snapchat Micro is an experiment that they’re really excited about. [Image via TechCrunch]

Snapchat Micro App For Galaxy Gear Revealed original content from Ubergizmo.

TechCrunch Disrupt starts on Monday, so that’s on all our minds for this week’s TC Gadgets Podcast. Hardware Alley showcases gadget startups on September 11, and if you’re still looking for hardware fixes there have been plenty this week, including Microsoft acquiring Nokia’s devices wing, and Samsung’s new Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

We talk about all these things, as well as the Galaxy Note 3 smartphone from Samsung and everyone’s suitably impressed with California, including Matt Burns, Jordan Crook, Chris Velazco, Romain Dillet and myself, Darrell Etherington.

We invite you to enjoy our weekly podcasts every Friday at 3pm Eastern and noon Pacific. And feel free to check out the TechCrunch Gadgets Flipboard magazine right here, as well as the TechCrunch Droidcast.

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Intro Music by Rick Barr.

I think smartwatches are a really neat idea. It’s been made clear to me—on Twitter, in the office, on the internet at large—that a lot of people disagree. With a burning passion. Let me try to explain to you why you are all wrong.

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Yes, we have seen a few devices arrive at the FCC recently, including the alleged Nexus 5, not to mention the alleged low cost Moto X smartphone. Having said that, the recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy Gear (which we managed to get a fair amount of hands-on time with it) has also paid a visit to the FCC, where it depicts the Samsung SM-V700 (that would be the Galaxy Gear’s model number) getting all the necessary paperwork approved by the FCC, which would mean it is about to hit retail shelves very, very soon. Heck, with the announced deadline of an end of September rollout for the Galaxy Gear, it had best get its act together, otherwise it might end up as egg on Samsung’s face.

The FCC documents did not reveal any more additional details concerning the Samsung Galaxy Gear that we already know. Still, it was revealed that Bluetooth connectivity will be part of this puppy, but other than that, it does not seem as though there would be other wireless connectivity options, although we would not rule out any last minute surprises. Will you be picking up the Samsung Galaxy Gear when it finally arrives at a store near you?

Samsung Galaxy Gear Hits The FCC original content from Ubergizmo.

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the latest round of touchscreen timepieces like the Galaxy Gear, not the least of which being the fact that you’ll apparently even be able to get a faux-leather stitched case for it. Guh. WHO WOULD DO THIS???

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