Samsung almost managed to keep the Galaxy Gear a secret, but just two days ahead of its official unveiling, pictures of a prototype have been leaked for the first time. This is the device that’s been given to developers a select Samsung partners, according to the sources that obtained the pictures — but is this the design you can expect the Galaxy Gear to ship with?

“We’ve been speaking with sources to separate fact from fiction. And this weekend, a source showed us one of the prototypes sent to developers and a few select partners,” reports VentureBeat, which published these pictures taken from a Galaxy Gear promotional video that was produced for Samsung by “an independent team.”

The device will reportedly have a square, 2.5-inch OLED display and it will connect to Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphones (and presumably others as well) via Bluetooth. It’s expected to come pre-loaded with a number of health and fitness apps, and will be heavily focused on tackling other fitness trackers like the Nike FuelBand and the Fitbit Flex.

You’ll be able to access your smartphone’s call logs and initiate calls on the Galaxy Gear, according to VentureBeat, and the device will have social networking apps and a built-in camera for video calling. Other features include Internet access, and “10+ hours” of battery life.

Some of these specifications were leaked last week, of course, but this is the first time they’ve been accompanied by pictures of the device.

It’s worth pointing out that the final Galaxy Gear design may be completely different, however. This is just prototype, and VentureBeat notes that “Samsung is highly security conscious in protecting its designs, and occasionally sends off prototypes that don’t mirror the final design.”

“But it won’t be far off,” Christina Farr adds.

We’ll know for certain on Wednesday, September 4, when Samsung holds its second Unpacked event of the year in Berlin ahead of IFA. The event will also see the official unveiling of the new Galaxy Note III.

• SourceVentureBeat