Samsung planning to launch a smartwatch that works as a standalone phone

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Published 23 May 2014

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Not to be deterred by the failure of its Gear branded smartwatch, Samsung is working on a new smartwatch that will work as a stand-alone phone without the need to be paired to any Android device. The Wall Street Journal reports that the smartwatch in question would be able to make and receive calls, send emails, take photos, click pictures and more all by itself.

Apparently, Samsung is currently in talks with many major telecom carries in the United States, South Korea and Europe and hopes to unveil it sometime between June and July. Surprisingly, the smartwatch will be running on Samsung’s own Tizen OS and not Android Wear or a dumbed down version of Android.

Rumors about Samsung working on a USIM enabled smartwatch started floating around back in April, with the company apparently planning to launch it as the Gear Solo in South Korea. Samsung had also filed a patent for the Gear Solo moniker, thereby confirming its existence.

Samsung owns the largest share of the smartwatch market, but the company is soon going to face stiff competition from Android Wear powered smartwatches from Motorola and LG in the next couple of months, which should challenge its position.