AT&T’s new NumberSync service aims to make your connected devices actually usable

To that end, AT&T just announced NumberSync, a free service that links all your other connected AT&T gizmos (think 3G smartwatches or tablets) to your main phone number.

The idea is that people are hesitant to buy multiple connected devices because they don’t want to deal with multiple numbers and separate charges. Once the service launches, AT&T customers will be able to send and receive messages, make phone calls and more from any phone, tablet or wearable device, all using the same primary number.

Before you go on thinking that you can use NumberSync to dupe AT&T and use the same number for multiple phones, it has already stated that only one phone can be linked to a single number.

NumberSync won’t require smartphones to be on a Wi-Fi network, connected via Bluetooth, or even powered on for other connected devices to work with your real phone number. Yet no specific NumberSync devices are mentioned, and it’s not clear whether the service will work across a wide array of mobile platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Connected cars are something AT&T hopes to include with NumberSync down the road.

AT&T introduced its new NumberSync service on Wednesday and it’s exactly what it sounds like. If you leave your phone at home while out on a run, but have a smartwatch that features wireless radios, you will be able to receive and place calls, as well as messages.

To a few extent, this sounds similar to Apple’s Continuity feature.

“AT&T is actively working with our ecosystem to integrate NumberSync with future devices”, AT&T Mobility CMO David Christopher said in a company blog post.

Lurie has said he expects that wearables with cellular connections will become the norm, though he acknowledged at last week’s Code/Mobile that uptake of such devices has been slower than he had initially thought. It also comes at no additional charge over the standard $10 per month fee to add a tablet or smartwatch to AT&T’s shared data plans.