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Will.i.am Takes on Smartwatches

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Black Eyed Peas singer and tech entrepreneur Will.i.am reveals his take on the smartwatch at Dreamforce 2014-- the PULS, a "smart cuff" his CE company, i.am+, has been working on for the past 2 years.

PULSThe PULS features a 2-inch curved touch display and, unlike most smartwatches, a SIM card slot, meaning it does not need to be tethered to a smartwatch in order to make calls, send emails and text messages or stream watches. In fact, Will.i.am insists "this is not a watch, by any means… This is a new type of communication."

At the presentation an AT&T executive also said the PULS "enabl[es] a millennial to fashionably tweet from her wrist while clubbing," possibly the first time such words have ever been put together in a statement.

As for technical details, the PULS features a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 16GB of onboard storage, 1GB RAM, GPS, pedometer, accelerometer and a battery that goes around the bracelet. It runs on an Android-based platform, and connectivity comes through wifi and 3G.

Also included are an unnamed music streaming service, a Siri-style voice  assistant dubbed AneedA and an obligatory fitness tracking app.

Will.i.am gives no words on the PULS' battery life, but the launch included models wearing clothing with built-in battery packs able to transfer power to the smartwatch (sorry, smart cuff)-- but only so long the sleeve is touching the device.

Will the PULS be a success, or it will it flop like Will.i.am's previous stab at CE, the foto.sosho iPhone case? The singer simply states "pardon me for dreaming, but fuck it-- let's dream." Either way, no launch date is available for the PULS, but will ship in black, white, pink, blue and, for those with too much money and little of taste, solid gold and gold studded with diamonds.

Go PULS