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Brands & Merch Business News
Will.i.am launches “smartband” with Gucci
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 20 March 2015
Will.i.am has announced that he is launching a new smartwatch, with the unique selling point that it doesn’t need to be tethered to a mobile phone, like other similar devices. Which all sounds rather familiar.
Of course, last year the producer and tech mogul was seen shopping a “smart cuff” called Puls, which also allowed the user to make calls (and receive them from other celebrities) without the need for any other device. This product is different though, because it’s a “smartband”. Cuffs are so yesterday, granddad.
Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri said in a statement, published by Vogue: “Wearable technology and smart devices represent a new frontier for the fashion industry. It is very appropriate that Gucci is leading the way through this collaboration with Will.i.am, as innovation has always been such an important part of our DNA”.
Not wishing to be left out of the nonsense statement making party, Will.i.am added: “i.am+ and Gucci Timepieces are setting the pace with our vision for a wearable technology. In developing together a device that is both fashionable and technologically advanced, we will create something that is unique in the marketplace. From the very start, I coined the term ‘fashionology’, a merging of the worlds of fashion and technology, which is exactly what this collaboration with Gucci represents”.
No story about a Will.i.am tech ‘innovation’ would be complete without a mention of that time he tried to get us all to attach an unwieldy camera to our iPhones. And now I’ve done that, I guess we can move on.
