Performer will.i.am Unveils Smartwatch At San Francisco Dreamforce Conference
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Performer will.i.am unveiled a wearable device that can make calls, email, text, and stream music at the Dreamforce Conference in San Francisco Wednesday.
The device is called Puls, which was developed by will.i.am's fashion and technology company i.am+. The company recently landed an investment from Salesforce.com.
In an interview with Salesforce's Marc Benioff, the performer and entrepreneur said that the major players in the tech industry like Samsung and Apple have the smartwatch concept all wrong.
"There's no reason why the thing on your wrist shouldn't be able to do everything. There's no reason for it to talk to a phone at all."
At the Dreamforce Conference, will.i.am called the device "un-tethered awesomeness" designed from a perspective of fashion.
Best known for being part of the Black Eyed Peas, the superstar told KPIX 5 that he is not looking for respect from Silicon Valley. He wants it from kids in his old neighborhood, the projects in Los Angeles.
"A lot of my friends are dead, or in prison. The friends that helped me dream out of that are my friends today," will.i.am told KPIX 5.
Appearing along with will.i.am is Cynthia Erenas, who lives in the singer's old neighborhood and aspires to be an engineer. "And I've never actually told you how proud, how thankful we are for having you in the community. Not only as a leader, and someone who made it out…To us you are our Superman" Erenas said during the presentation.
The singer said it took three years for his team to develop the wearable device. When asked about his device being compared to Apple's upcoming smartwatch, he said that it is an honor to be considered as a competitor to the Cupertino-based tech giant.
