Samsung’s next smartwatch may well contain a SIM, allowing it to communicate without the need for a smartphone.
The name of this new smartwatch will be the Samsung Gear Solo, according to a recent report in the Korea Herald. The publication cites a listing for the device with the Korean Intellectual Property Office - the country’s official patent office.
As the name suggests, the Gear Solo will be different from previous Samsung Gear smartwatches in one vital area. It will be able to make and receive calls completely independently of a phone - something we haven’t seen from a smartwatch as yet.
Current smartwatches, such as the Samsung Gear 2, the Pebble, and the Sony SmartWatch 2, use Bluetooth to hook up to your smartphone. They then piggyback on the phone’s own connective capabilities to relay notifications and messages to your wrist, and even to host calls.
As such, the Gear Solo concept is potentially quite radical, as it puts forward the possibility of ditching your smartphone altogether.
Of course Samsung, as the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, is unlikely to push for that just yet. We can probably expect a great deal of synergy between the two smart formats over the coming years as the more compact platform is developed and refined.
According to an SK Telecom (South Korea’s biggest mobile network) source, the Samsung Gear Solo would initially only be made available in Samsung’s home country. However, the source also claimed that a wider overseas release had not been ruled out.
Read More: What is Android Wear? A guide to Google’s smartwatch OS