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Most smartwatches are wrist-worn devices that are meant to pair with your smartphone wirelessly so you can see messages on your wrist, maybe control media playback, or perform other actions without taking your phone out of your pocket.
But Samsung is reportedly working on a smartwatch that doesn’t need a phone at all. You can use it to make phone calls.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.
- Report: Samsung smartwatch that makes calls without a phone coming this summer
There’ve been rumors about a Samsung Gear Solo smartwatch that would be able to make calls without pairing with your smartphone for weeks. Now the Wall Street Journal has sources confirming those rumors. [WSJ] - Simon & Schuster adds about 10k book titles to Oyster and Scribd Netflix-for-books style subscription services
Two out of the five big book publishers are now on-board with subscription-based eBook services. That means many of the books you can find at Scribd and Oyster are still from indie publishers… but eBooks from big name authors including Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, Walter Isaacson, and Chuck Klosterman are now available. [GigaOm] - The Smartisan T1 is a premium Chinese smartphone that’s not a clone of anything
Smartisan OS is a fork of Google Android with an unusual user interface and the Smartisan T1 smartphone is a premium handset that runs the software. [Engadget] - Rikomagic M3 smart watch now available for about $117 (including US shipping)
Rikomagic is probably best known for making Android TV boxes (you know, if the company is known at all). But now the company is launching a smartwatch featuring a MediaTek processor, a 240 x 240 pixel display, and the ability to pair with any device running Android 2.1 or later over Bluetooth. [AliExpress via ArcTablet] - Microsoft Surface Pro 3 reviewed
Microsoft says its latest tablet can replace your laptop… and early reviews suggest that could be true. Whether it can replace your tablet is another question. [The Verge] - Unannounced Asus K018 device has a Clover Trail+ CPU
This could be a phone… or maybe a Padfone. It reportedly has a 4.4 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display, Android 4.4 KitKat software, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. [GFXBench via Mobile Geeks]
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Isn’t that what Neptune is doing with the Pine?
Yes it is, but I think the Neptune Pine is doing a better job.