One of the biggest limitations of today's smartwatches is their dependency on the wearer's smartphone, but it looks like Samsung and SK Telecom are working on a solution. According to a Patently Apple report, the South Korean companies are jointly preparing to release a smartwatch equipped with a Universal Subscriber Identity Module, or USIM.
This means that the smartwatch would be able to make and receive calls on its own, without relying on the wearer's smartphone.
The new smartwatch could be branded as 'Gear Solo', as Samsung has filed for the trademark for the brand name with the Korean Intellectual Property Office. But according to people close to the matter, the brand name is not set in stone yet and could change before hitting the market.
According to The Korea Herald, a Samsung official declined to comment on the 'Gear Solo' saying that they were not authorized to talk about products that have yet to be officially released, suggesting it does exist.
The details are thin at the moment, but it is being speculated that the smartwatch will be announced in the coming weeks, and will launch in Korea first through SK Telecom, before being released overseas.