It’s a brave man who decides to take on the might of Apple, but rapper and entrepreneur Will.I.Am has stepped up to the mantle with his very own smartwatch, set to launch tomorrow.
Apple already launched its much-anticipated smartwatch (cunningly titled the Apple Watch) last month, but Mr. I.Am will be revealing his own device, which he claims is the better of the two in terms of untethered technology, tomorrow. That’s just 24 hours before Apple’s next huge Cupertino event, where we’re expecting to see the new iPad Air 2 for the first time.
The Black Eyed Peas star was recently interviewed by Pocket Lint, where he revealed that Apple will still have the edge when it comes to tethering their devices directly to a smartphone, but that his device will be a better standalone watch which can make and receive calls directly from your wrist.
The device is expected to offer apps for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from launch day, giving rise to speculation that it will run an Android operating system.
As you’d expect from someone whose beginnings came from music, the smartwatch will likely be highly music-centric, with 7digital developing a unique music service for the device, with an ethos of equality when it comes to the rates charged and royalties paid to contributing artists. The watch is also expected to store music directly.
This isn’t Will.I.Am’s first smartwatch product, his first launching back in April, but the timing of this launch appears to indicate that he’s serious about becoming a major player in the wearable market. Perhaps some kind of funky headset will be next, to fix that dent in his head.
Read next: 16 amazing things you can do with the Apple Watch
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