Will.i.am is back with another smartwatch
Hopefully the Dial is better than the Puls.
The charismatic musician William Adams, more commonly known as Will.i.am, is trying the whole smartwatch thing again. The Black Eyed Peas rapper-turned-solo artist has been working in the technology space for some time, launching a series of iPhone cases and a wrist-worn wearable called the Puls. Neither took off, but that hasn't stopped him from developing a new timepiece called the Dial. It's a self-contained device that takes a SIM card and will be available exclusively on Three in the UK.
Like the Puls, it's a wide cuff-style band that doesn't look much like a traditional watch. A large, square display sits in the middle and you'll be able to converse with a voice-enabled assistant called "AneedA." (The name, if you're wondering, is a mashup between the name Anita and the phrase "I need a...") Whether or not you're carrying a smartphone, you should be able to text, call, email and play music directly from your wrist. It'll come in black or white and offers the usual range of fitness features, such as the ability to track your steps, runs and workout sessions.
We know little about the specs, other than it runs on a Qualcomm processor and has a front-facing camera. The software is a curiosity too, since it doesn't appear to run an established platform like Android Wear.
Three UK will offer the Dial online and in-store this Spring, and you can register your interest by filling out this form or submitting your email address here. According to the Telegraph, you'll have to sign up for a two-year contract, with pricing somewhere around the £20 per month mark. To succeed, it'll need to be a huge improvement over the Puls, which was reportedly "riddled with problems" and a "wearable nightmare."
