Gucci will make wearables with will.i.am in spite of his calamitous Puls debut

The first smart wearable from will.i.am, the Puls smart band, was irredeemably bad, but that’s not stopping Gucci from partnering with the musician-turned-tech-visionary for a new line of wearable devices. Describing the Gucci collaboration as a new edition (wordplay on ‘addition’, presumably?) to his family, will.i.am promises a smart band that will live and work completely autonomously from your smartphone. Making calls, emailing, maps, music, fitness tracking, and even “a sophisticated personal assistant” are among the key features of the as yet untitled device.

Though neither Gucci nor will.i.am are yet disclosing full details about their project, everything known about it so far suggests a rebadging of the existing Puls smart band. And that’s not great news for anyone who’s struggled to get anything done with the flawed first effort from the house of will.i.am design. Perhaps with a few months of experience and a lot of unhappy feedback, the Puls can be steered in the right direction.

Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri and will.i.am were both wearing prototype devices while making the announcement, reports CNET, however the final look of the band has yet to be confirmed. For now, will.i.am leaves us with the promise of “a device that is both fashionable and technologically advanced ... something that is unique in the marketplace.” And as to all the Android Wear and Apple Watch competition out there, he simply concludes that his wearable will be “the dopest one.”

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