Cutting Ties With The Galaxy?

Samsung is rumored to be planning the release of a new standalone watch phone called the Samsung Gear Solo – according to a recent report from the Korea Herald.

The Herald also reports that Samsung has filed a patent with the Korean IP Office under the moniker, “Gear Solo”.

Insiders familiar with the Samsung’s product plans previously told CNET that Samsung has been working on a standalone Gear for a while.

As we’ve reported before, Samsung has been particularly aggressive about the wearables market. The Gear Solo represents their 5th new product in this category, in less than a year.

In late 2013, Samsung released the first-generation [easyazon_link asin=”B00FH9I0FQ” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”bestsmartwatchescomparedweb-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]Galaxy Gear[/easyazon_link] smart watch to mixed reviews. Nevertheless, it was the best-selling smart watch ever, eclipsing more than 800,000 sales.

Then, in February, 2014, Samsung announced a second-generation lineup of three new wearable devices: the [easyazon_link asin=”B00JBJ3HQ0″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”bestsmartwatchescomparedweb-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]Gear 2[/easyazon_link], [easyazon_link asin=”B00JBJ3I4Q” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”bestsmartwatchescomparedweb-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]Gear 2 Neo[/easyazon_link] and [easyazon_link asin=”B00JBJ3JBI” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”bestsmartwatchescomparedweb-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]Gear Fit Fitness Tracker[/easyazon_link]. All three devices [easyazon_link asin=”B00JBJ3HQ0″ locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”bestsmartwatchescomparedweb-20″ add_to_cart=”default” cloaking=”default” localization=”default” popups=”default”]are available to purchase online now[/easyazon_link], with shipments beginning later this week.

More Than A Smart Watch

All of Samsung’s current smart watches require a companion smartphone to handle notifications and calls, but the new device (whatever it is called) eliminates that requirement.

The new Samsung Gear Solo will be able to place and receive phone calls without the need to be tethered to a smartphone.

In other words, it will be a watch phone, not a smart watch. See our infographic (left) for an explanation of the difference between these two types of wearables.

If the rumors are true, then the Solo will compete against more powerful devices such as the Androidly, Omate Truesmart 2.0 and the Neptune Pine. All of these suffer from short battery life and a bulky design, so we’ll see if Samsung’s design will be an improvement.

Caveats

The ‘Solo’ name is probably still up in the air.

Also, earlier rumors suggested the Solo would only be available in South Korea.

No word yet on pricing or availability.