A Huawei-made device bearing the model number GRU-B09 was certified by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday, with the agency publicizing several related documents pertaining to the product. The Shenzhen, China-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is referring to the equipment submitted to the FCC as a “TalkBand,” thus heavily implying that the company is working on yet another wearable. The name itself implies that the GRU-B09 may be a successor to the TalkBand B3, a lightweight fitness tracker that the Chinese tech giant introduced last year. The firm’s TalkBand lineup has a relatively self-explanatory name, entailing products that are both smart bands and earpieces capable of making and receiving high-quality audio calls.
Unsurprisingly, the newly certified device is Bluetooth-enabled, the FCC’s listing reveals, without clarifying on the exact version of the standard supported by the wearable. Likewise, its battery capacity wasn’t specified by the federal agency, though one of the newly published documents confirms that the GRU-B09 is charged over a USB cable. The last released member of this product family featured a microUSB port and its successor is likely to do the same, in addition to being designed as an affordable alternative to the company’s smartwatches. The TalkBand series was never powered by Android Wear and instead shipped with FreeRTOS, and there’s no indication that Huawei is planning to transition it to Google’s operating system in the immediate future.
According to the product label of the GRU-B09, the fitness band will be compatible with smartphones running Android 4.4 KitKat and newer versions of the OS, as well as iPhones with iOS 8.0 and later iterations of Apple’s mobile software. Huawei asked for a standard six-month confidentiality period from the FCC when submitting the device for testing on Monday, asking the agency to refrain from publicizing more detailed information about the wearable until January 6, 2018. The Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer sent yet another device to the FCC earlier this week, with the company looking to certify an unspecified phablet that may be the Huawei Y7 or Y7 Prime (Enjoy 7 Plus). More details on the tech giant’s hardware ambitions will likely follow in the coming months.