Even though he is an artiste, it has not
stopped him from unleashing his entrepreneurial and technological
skills. Will.i.am is not a stranger to technology. Recently at the
Salesforce Dreamforce conference in Moscone Centre, California, USA, he
added one more thing to his portfolio: the Puls, a sleek minimalist
wrist-worn device.
The device stores
music; it has a voice navigator named ‘Aneeda’, which is powered by the
speech-tech company, Nuance; and makes phone calls without being paired
with a smart phone.
Two years in the
making, the Puls smart watch boasts an array of apps and GPS. The device
includes a SIM card reader next to the battery, which is fitted into
the wide wristband, to make phone calls possible. A curved touch screen
is also built into the cuff design.
For
those who know the musician cum entrepreneur very well, this is not his
first foray into manufacturing a wearable device. Last year, his
company, i.am+, launched the foto.sosho, an iPhone case worn around the
neck that costs $475 (N78,400).
The
accessory essentially turns an iPhone into a fancier camera, with things
like a keyboard, interchangeable lenses, built-in flash and photo
editing application. Will.i.am has also talked about other
connected-wearables his company makes, like shoes, bags and jackets.
By
this, he joins the likes of technology giants, Apple and Motorola, who
have launched wearables to appeal to the fashion-conscious, rather than
the stereotypical tech geek.
He said,
“Puls represents my passion for, and my mission to marry design and
advanced technology – to create a new breed of wearable device that
leapfrogs what is currently on the market.”
No comments:
Post a Comment