Samsung is planning to launch a variant of its Gear 2 smartwatch capable of making voice calls without connecting to a smartphone, according to a report from Korean Herald. Samsung plans to release the new version of the Gear 2 in Korea in partnership with the local operator SK Telecom. This would have a built-in SIM card or USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) to use it as a standalone mobile device.
According to the report, a source closer to the development said it might release globally eventually. LG had released a watch phone with built-in SIM card slot few years back. Last year a Chinese company Appscomm released a smartwatch with a Mirasol display and a built-in micro SIM slot to make and receive phone calls and read or send text messages.
Samsung unveiled the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo running on Tizen OS at the MWC last month. Both these would go on sale globally starting next month. Samsung has partnered with Google to launch a smartwatch based on Android Wear platform. If the rumors are true, it would be interesting to see how manages to overcome the battery-life issue, since a built-in SIM module would drain the battery.