The Samsung Gear S smartwatch that boasts cellular connectivity will hit all four major carriers in the U.S. this fall, Samsung has announced.
Smartwatches are increasingly gaining momentum and there already are plenty of attractive choices on the market. Wearable technology is expected to be the next big thing and various heavyweight companies have joined the race.
Samsung launched several smartwatches so far, but the Gear S truly stands out from the crowd due to its ability to function as an independent device. While other smartwatches out there serve as companion devices that can deliver certain functionality only when paired with a smartphone, the Samsung Gear S comes with cellular connectivity that allows it to make or take calls and messages and connect to the Internet even if users don't carry a paired smartphone along with them.
For users to be able to enjoy that cellular connectivity on the Samsung Gear S, however, some data connection is required, hence the carrier implication. Samsung unveiled the Gear S in late August and now it has offered some more availability details.
"The Gear S will come to the U.S. this fall and will be available through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. More information to come soon," reads Samsung's brief announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Only AT&T has provided some details about its plans to launch the Samsung Gear S so far, but other carriers are expected to make their own announcements soon enough. AT&T, for its part, said that that interested customers will be able to check out the Samsung Gear S in AT&T retail stores across the U.S. starting on Friday, Sept. 26. For a list of AT&T retail locations that will be showcasing the smartwatch, head here.
"Gear S features a curved display, making it easy to send and read text messages and dial numbers comfortably from your wrist. Leave your phone at home when you are going for a jog or running errands," further touted AT&T. "When your compatible Samsung smartphone is turned on and connected to the AT&T network, incoming calls and messages will go to your Gear S, so you don't miss out. The S Health feature counts steps, maps out running trails, and tracks a variety of fitness data so that you can stay up-to-date on your workout results."
As a reminder, the Samsung Gear S is quite similar in terms of specifications to Samsung's other smartwatch offerings, save for the cellular connectivity. The gadget packs a 1.0GHz dual-core processor under the hood, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage capacity, and some neat features such as a heart rate monitor. Samsung is also rumored to launch a smartwatch with a fingerprint reader sometime in the future, but the Gear S doesn't have such functionality.
No exact pricing or launch date details are available at this point, but more information is expected to surface shortly.
