Load the Game

Will.i.Am and Gucci partner for luxury smart watch

• Egon Kilin
• March 19th, 2015

The Apple Watch as a concept should be worried by now, seeing as various luxury watch makers, including Swatch, have announced their foray into the smart watch business. Recent studies about the Apple Watch reveal that there aren’t that many people interested in buying the watch right now, most of them motivating their choice with the lack of “need” for this type of product. If it’s any consolation, these folks don’t intend to buy any other smart watches either.

Will.i.Am had an attempt at a smart watch, more like a cuff, called the Puls, which hasn’t received the praise the music artist had hoped for. This time, the artist might have a better shot at wearable technology, as Gucci has partnered up with him in order to launch their own smart watch. Although the Gucci branded wearable won’t be a smart watch, exactly, it will do much of the same things these devices do generally. It’s going to be a smartband and it was announced at BaselWorld 2 this week. Gucci and Will.i.Am are not the only ones who will be trying their luck on the wearable market, as Tag Heuer has also announced their own smart watch, while Martian is launching ten new models and even Swatch has launched its own beach volley-targeted fitness tracker.

One of the good things about Will.i.Am’s first smart watch, the Puls, is that it’s a standalone device, which doesn’t need a tethered smartphone in order to work properly. The same will apply to the new device the fashion mogul and the music artist are planning on launching. The device will do most of the things any other smart watch can, such as navigation, notifications, maps, calendars, music and of course, 3G voice calling and texting. Besides these usual features, the device will double as a fitness tracker, too, complete with a heart rate monitor, GPS and temperature sensor. Moreover, the smartband will supposedly have its own camera, too.

The development of the Gucci smartband is underway, and only prototypes were revealed at the BaselWorld show today. Seeing as we’re talking about one of the biggest names in fashion design, we’re more than confident that the device will be at least fashionable, if not that smart. Gucci CEO Marco Bizzari calls their new venture into wearable technology “fashionology” and has expressed his opinions about who should dictate the way in which the smart watch and wearables are designed.