Samsung’s Gear S, its curvy standalone smartwatch, will hit U.S. shores soon, the South Korean tech giant announced. After announcing an October launch for Australian customers, the company issued a short, barely there press release stating that the U.S. will get the wearable device “this fall.”
See also: Samsung’s New Gear S Smartwatch Looks Great (But May Be Less Filling)
Samsung also mentioned that all four major U.S. carriers—that’s AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless—will carry the watch. In T-Mobile’s case, the gadget will be eligible for its Equipment Installment Plan (EIP), the carrier’s installment plan that drops the monthly fee as soon as the device’s retail price has been paid off. No word yet on price.
First introduced at the IFA show in Berlin last month, the Tizen-powered Gear S features a large, 2-inch curved Super AMOLED screen and standalone cellular connectivity that doesn’t require pairing to a smartphone. Instead of Android Wear, which powers its Gear Live smartwatch, Samsung went back to its alternate operating system, Tizen, for the Gear S, which helps the Galaxy maker maintain some autonomy from Google—but may limit options for users.
It may not offer quite the range of apps that Android Wear devices—like the LG G, Moto 360 and its own Gear Live—can boast, but at least you can feel like Dick Tracy talking into your arm.
Samsung will also ship its Note 4 phablet to the U.S. next month. Prompted by Apple boasting about its record sales of its new supersized iPhones, Samsung reportedly sped up its phablet launch in South Korea and China, targeting a Friday ship date, with another 140 countries to follow in October.
Photos courtesy of Samsung
