24 Oct 2014
Will.i.am enters wearables market with ‘smart cuff’ offering
BY Jak Phillips
Black Eyed Peas superstar will.i.am is poised to make a surprise assault on the burgeoning wearable tech market with a “smart cuff” featuring fitness tracking software.
The musician, born William Adams, hopes his i.amPuls wrist-worn device can help him emulate the success of Dr Dre’s Beats empire – in which he was a founding investor – and make the jump from musician to tech mogul.
He has teamed up with legendary architect Zaha Hadid to create special editions of the cuff, which is expected to be in stores before the end of the year.
In addition to fitness tracking software, the Puls – which will.i.am is adamant is not a smartwatch – sports a curved OLED screen and has 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GP. It also contains a SIM card and can be used for phone calls and other forms of communication without the need for a smartphone.
In a series of tweets, the star told his 12.5 million Twitter followers: “Finally here it is. 3 years in the making. Check out the PULS. This is what a wearable should do.
“This is what we call fashionology...we might not be a gigantic company, but we have good ideas.”
will.i.am is an avid technology fan who has previously worked in a consulting capacity for both Intel and BlackBerry. He said his i.amPuls offering – into which he pumped US$15m (€12m, £9m) from his Beats payout – is the product of three years’ worth of research and development. It is expected to retail from US$499 (€394, £310).
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