Intel’s smart bracelet likely to launch in coming weeks

By Trevor Mogg August 26, 2014

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Intel is reportedly weeks away from launching the “luxury” smart bracelet it first talked of at CES at the beginning of the year.

A person familiar with the matter told Cnet this week the bracelet won’t be a fitness tracker, but instead a “more premium, high-end product meant for a niche type of consumer.” It all sounds a bit vague, for sure, but it seems all will be revealed in the next month or so. Cnet points to New York Fashion Week, which kicks off on September 4, or the Intel Developer Forum starting September 9, as possibilities for the unveiling.

The smart bracelet is the result of a collaboration between chip-maker Intel, which is providing the technology; Opening Ceremony fashion house, which has helped design it; and Barneys New York, where it’ll be sold. The cost of the device is currently unknown.

Related: Smart jewelry is proving wearable tech doesn’t have to be hideous

Just days after Brian Krzanich took the reins at Intel in May last year, the company made apparent its interest in wearables with the creation of a ‘new devices’ group to focus on emerging product trends.

Group member Ayse Ildeniz said earlier this year the move to work with Opening Ceremony and Barneys represented Intel’s “collective and conscious approach to the wearable market,” adding that the new partnerships “will merge the expertise of two very distinct disciplines of technology and fashion, essential in realizing the vision of prolific adoption of wearable technology.”

While Intel made a huge success of its chip technology in the personal computer industry, it was slow to respond to the fast developing smartphone and tablet market. Keen to develop new revenue streams and determined not to once again be left behind, the California-based company is now eager to establish itself in the potentially hugely lucrative wearables space through collaborations with a range of firms.

Intel has already partnered with 50 Cent’s headphone company SMS Audio to create the SMS Audio BioSport Headphones. Unveiled earlier this month, the biometric headphones can monitor your heart rate, sync with fitness app RunKeeper, and, hopefully, keep you motivated throughout your workout.

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Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

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