Samsung Galaxy Gear pairs up via NFC, leaked pic says

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Gear smart watch will pair up with your Android phone via NFC and Bluetooth, according to a new leaked screenshot of the Gear's dedicated Android app.

The leaked pic comes from the prolific Twitter-based industry insider @evleaks -- who just says, "It's coming..." -- and it looks exactly how you would expect a Samsung app to look, with a black background, slim white text and simple cartoony icons.

NFC is the same tech you find in tap-to-pay credit cards and travel cards, and in this case connects the Gear and your mobile as an easy shortcut to set up a Bluetooth connection. You don't have to fiddle about in a menu selecting devices, but the stronger, longer-range Bluetooth link handles the data transfer between watch and phone.

What's interesting, if you peer closely, is that this might be our first glimpse of what the Galaxy Gear looks like. The understated line drawing of the smart watch is obscured by a blue ring, which presumably represents NFC working, and may be animated in the real app.

The instructions, "bring the mobile device and the charger together, back to back," imply that curved, indented pebble is the back of the Gear, and that it has a flat front. That's backed up by comments earlier this week from Samsung's Lee Young-Hee, who said the device wouldn't be using the rumoured flexible display.

Apps are definitely on board, although it's not clear whether you'll be able to use third-party apps, and you can evidently customise cosmetic things like the style of the watch face. So far, so similar to Sony's SmartWatch 2. We'll have to wait until next week to see if the Galaxy Gear offers any other tricks to get it up your sleeve.

The Gear is almost certain to be unveiled at Samsung's Unpacked event on the evening of 4 September at the IFA tech show in Berlin, alongside the Galaxy Note 3, Samsung's latest monster phone. CNET will be there mob-handed, so expect our first impressions, detailed photos and hands-on videos as soon as they're launched.

In the meantime, let me know what else you'd like to see from a Samsung smart watch in the comments, or on our well-connected Facebook page.

Image credit: @evleaks