Intel Reveals Luxury Smart Bracelet

in hardware on 2014-09-04 10:16 (#2S1N)

From the department of questionable business decisions comes Intel's MICA:

The MICA, which was engineered by Intel, will be sold at luxury retailer Barneys New York and priced under $1,000, in line with similar jewelry from Opening Ceremony, Intel said. The device will provide alerts and notifications, including SMS messages, calendar reminders, meeting alerts and other notifications sent directly to the wrist display. Also, two-way wireless data communication through a 3G cellular radio will be available without the need to pair with a smartphone. The device can charge wirelessly or using a USB cable. Intel in October plans to provide more details on the bracelet's capabilities.

[Author note: If a chip manufacturer makes jewelry in the market and there are no nerds around to hear, do they make a sound?]

Brave move, Intel (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-09-04 13:16 (#2S1V)

Looks like they could use some assistance, but I'm not sure if it's a marketing person they need or just someone to knock them about the heads and convince them they're not qualified to enter a market as complicated and nuanced as women's fashion. Those models scare me off. The one grimacing almost makes it look like wearing the bracelet is painful or unpleasant, so that makes it a thing to avoid. The bracelet looks a bit ugly, too. This is a job for Apple or Samsung, working in close partnership with Chanel or Donna Karan [sp] or equivalent. They are way, way out of their comfort zone.

Then there's the functionality aspect - is this just functionally the equivalent of the smart watch, which is, itself, struggling? The article makes it clear we'll have to wait until October to find out what it even does!