Popular beat combo artist, and Intel advisor, Will.i.am has released a new watch gadget which he says can do everything a phone can.
Dubbed the Puls the “smartwatch-type device” is designed to be worn throughout the day and be charged at night. It will run at least a dozen apps, handling everything from Twitter to phone calls to fitness and maps.
Will.i.am unveiled the device onstage at the Salesforce Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. It has been backed by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
The device will be sold this holiday season through a variety of channels, including physical AT&T stores, fashion stores and online sites. Although there was no word on price it will cost less than a smartphone by a big margin, Will.i.am said.
Unlike the gizmos on the market so far, Will.i.am’s Puls will make phone calls without requiring smartphone tethering. In the U.S., users will need a data plan from AT&T; O2 is required for the U.K. Pricing details for those plans were not disclosed.
The device will also have 1GB of memory, 16GB of storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a pedometer, and accelerometer. The Puls runs a proprietary OS, has a curved screen, and wraps around the wrist like a cuff.
Will.i.am insisted that it was not really a watch but “a new type of communication on your wrist”.
