“American musician-cum-entrepreneur Will.i.am thinks he’s got a radical gadget to beat the band: a massive, app-infused wrist wearable that he says can do everything a phone can, and more,” Zach Miners reports for PCWorld.
“The self-proclaimed tech fashion guru unveiled the Puls on Wednesday, a smartwatch-type device designed to be worn throughout the day. It will run at least a dozen apps, handling everything from Twitter to phone calls to fitness and maps,” Miners reports. “The device will be sold this holiday season through a variety of channels, including physical AT&T stores, fashion stores and online sites, Will.i.am said during an interview with the press following the launch event. A firm price was not disclosed, but it will cost less than a smartphone by a big margin, Will.i.am said.”
“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,” Miners reports. “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. ‘This is not a watch,’ Will.i.am stressed during the event. ‘It’s a new type of communication on your wrist,’ he said.”
Read more in the full article here.
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Direct link to video here.
MacDailyNews Take: This ridiculous, amateurish mess is on the express train to the dustbin of tech history. (Yes, it has a freaking onscreen keyboard!!!)
We’ve developed a whole new interface specific to the challenges associated with a product this small. The Digital Crown is a remarkable input device. It fluidly zooms into apps. It enables nimble, precise adjustments. And, critically, you can use it without obstructing the display. – Sir Jonathan Ive, Apple Senior Vice President of Design
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It actually doubles as a drink koozie
Say what you want, it’s a wearable phone. People will like that.
iWatch is an asinine name for a thing (good or bad still TBD) that is anything BUT a watch. There are six things on my desk right now that tell me the time and NONE of them is a watch.
It’s Apple Watch bucko. And I was just kidding around 🙂 good for him! I haven’t designed a wearable so I have no room to insult him. I was just making a friendly joke.
Good Lord, did I see a keyboard on that thing?
Yes, but I can almost forgive it because Will.I.Am is in essence a nice guy, you just love him and that is it.
This cuff is not going to competition to anything, people will try and find out, why. But it is not harmful, let AT&T spend their crooked money. 😉
yeah, that’s a scary looking, microscopy keyboard. Not encouraging.
But it is competition, if only because it tries some new things.
Judging by the way the guy was using the keyboard, it probably works similar to Swype.
A qwerty keyboard that small?
Isn’t that one of those things Lindsay Lohan had to wear when she was under house arrest?
…Except Lindsay had to lift her leg to see the time. (Ahem).
Now scumsung have someone else to copy from I won’t be at all surprised if the next watch from scumsung looks remarkable like will.i.am’s watch. But that on screen keyboard what were they thinking to go with that option geez.
Props for taking a shot. I’ll bet he sells more than a few of these.
this is what WATCH should have been. a stand alone product that does not require an iPhone on the user.
I don’t know if this device does it, but I was saying long ago, the band should have a battery built in to it. this device, with the cuff instead of a band, looks like it could house a battery.
I have feeling the WATCH is going to be a major bomb and Tim Cook’s downfall.
FAN – Hmmm, I smell a rat. Something is fishy in your post. I also think Apple should have a stand alone watch with an optional phaser and teleportation device built in. Not having to carry a teleporter it in your pocket would be a game changer.
You as an FAN should no that Apple will make its devices when the technology is ready. They don’t need to be first out of the gate just the best in class. The iWatch, I believe will be strong, people just need to realize why they need this. I remember when the iPad came out and no one could get past the idea of why we would ever need a gigantic size phone. How on earth could tablet even be relevant when netbooks will eat them alive.
The Watch still has to prove itself, as does the entire computer-on-a-wrist market. But from what we know so far, the Watch is both functional and appealing. The Puls is not so much.
As for the point of having a phone-on-a-wrist, I’m extremely skeptical of it becoming a ‘thing’. If quality phone hardware and a decent battery to support it can be stuffed into a watch thingy, there’s still the question of being able to hear and be heard. Any speaker on such a thing is going to be inadequate. That’s a given.
i think a phone on the wrist would only really be usable if using it along with an earpiece.
Bluetooth for sure. But that’s more circuitry and antenna to be shoved into the phone. Maybe if it expanded into the watch band. I don’t know.
What’s good is that lots of new things are being tried out in the R&D labs and in public. It will all get bashed into shape over time.
You guessed correctly.. It seems from some articles I’ve read on the Puls that the internals for the device is spread throughout the band. Lots of physical space in relation to the Apple Watch. Space which I suspect they can work on compacting when they get it right..
I’m thinking a bluetooth connection for calls sans wires since it seems to be a strong motivation for the creation of this device based on interviews I’ve seen so far. It appears to charge on an induction mat with a battery slightly smaller than proposed for the Apple Watch currently. I suppose if the price is right and it is focused strongly on what it is designed to do, it will sell well enough.
Its interesting , but lets face it radiation comes with all these gadgets-doesn’t make a difference if its Apples or someone else’s. What are the health risks with these things that nobody is addressing yet. a cell phone is one thing , but wearing it on your body all day long can’t be good
Man, his finger covers fully HALF the keyboard. I guess it’s supposed to be standalone, but wow. Maybe if it survives it’ll get better and get product placement in a new Dick Tracy movie.
Since it is reported to use predictive typing, I am guessing that you will be selecting words more than actually completely typing them out.
Just watched the whole video and I think his idea is good, just the execution leaves a bit to be desired.
As far as wearing it all day, yeah, your phone isn’t necessarily on you all day, but if it’s on your hip or in your pocket all day, I see no difference, but then again I’m no doctor.
Pullin’ my chain, eh?
He doesn’t like cords when he’s “jump-ropin’.”
I think it looks kind of kewl.
But is it going to fit everyone’s wrist? It’s not going to have much software, that’s fur shur. We know nothing about the OS. We know nothing about the image and sound quality. We know nothing about the cell calling quality or distance. Lots of big unknowns. But it’s competition that tries something different! The more competition the better.