What to expect from a Samsung Android Wear smartwatch

This week an FCC listing for a smaller Samsung Gear device appears to fit in well with the possibility of an Android Wear device for the near future. While Samsung has worked with smart watches before – with the Galaxy Gear, the Gear 2, and the Gear Fit – this would be the company's launch in with the rest of the Android Wear devices this late Summer.

Samsung has never been one to be left out in the cold with a new mobile OS. They've participated in nearly every operating system launch in the past 5 years, including Android, Windows Phone, Tizen (their own OS, to be fair), Bada (which was folded into Tizen), MeeGo, and (through no effort of their own) Ubuntu. They've also adopted Chrome OS for desktops and Chromebooks and Windows for a variety of devices as well.

NOTE: Samsung is also amongst the confirmed partners of Google's Android Wear devices in the first wave. Now it's a matter of figuring out what Samsung will deliver.

Here we're seeing a wearable device with a body that's not entirely ready to work with Android Wear. As you'll see in one of our several Android Wear guides from the past few months, Android Wear devices must have a face that's either circular or square. The "front of device" image you're seeing here is not necessarily a display – instead it leaves room for a button or two.

Samsung has also filed for trademark over the name "Galaxy Wear" in recent weeks. This would indicate again that Samsung is working on an Android Wear-ready line of watches, likely starting when Google pushes Android Wear at Google I/O 2014.

This device is called a "Smart Wearable" by Samsung and has the model number SM-R382. We'll likely see this device appear sooner than later, complete with specifications very, very similar to those of the LG G Watch.

Right now you can also investigate more on what Android Wear is all about in our SlashGear 101: Android Wear for Google Wearables guide.