• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, February 18, 2016

Wearables may soon be able to disconnect themselves from being tethered to smartphones and begin to act on their own.

This has long been one of the promises of The Internet of Things, where each device or sensor will be independent and also connected via the cloud.

On the eve of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a new standard already in some mobile devices has just been introduced as part of the GSMA’s Consumer Remote SIM Provisioning initiative.

The SIM specifications from the leading mobile industry group will encourage device manufacturers to create a new generation of lighter, mobile connected devices that are more suited for wearable technology products.

The significance is that this will enable consumers to remotely and independently connect devices such as smart watches and fitness trackers to a mobile network.

The new devices will use smaller chips that don’t require as much space as a typical SIM card, which already are tiny, but still with the security built in.

The key is that wearable devices then will be able to operate independently of a smartphone, with their own subscriptions (not sure yet how fees and billing will ultimately evolve).

It also means wearables can get smaller, so that fitness trackers can shrink in size and smartwatches can focus more on fashion design.

The new standard already has wide industry support, with backing from many major companies, including AT&T, Verizon, Apple, Sony, Samsung, Vodafone, Deutsche Telecom and Sprint.

The general idea is that a consumer would activate their new wearable device with a wireless carrier, much like a new smartphone is activated.

The things of The Internet of Things are starting to be their own thing.