Will.i.am Puls second generation to land in early 2015

Exclusive: Finalised product set to launch next year
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Early adopters and Will.i.am disciples may well have believed that the Puls smartwatch would be the saviour of wearable tech but Wareable has learned that a second version will be released early next year.

Will.i.am took the wrappers off of the Puls smart wearable back in October and a source involved in the project told Wareable that an official release was originally planned for Black Friday, with the Black Eyed Peas rapper supposedly set to unveil the public on-sale date on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Instead, the duo spent the majority of their chat talking about their Ew! music video, with the smart band only given minimal air time towards the end of the interview.

The Puls launch was supposed to be the grand unveiling with 10,000 to 20,000 units going on sale according to our sources.

Although Jimmy Fallon said the device would go on sale in December during the show, it's our understanding that the initial Puls batch will now be limited so only a lucky few will be able to get their hands on one. You can register your interest now for a launch edition Puls in the Make It Great program. Selected applicants will be able to get one for $399.

Wareable has learned that a second generation Puls, one that is 40% smaller than the one Will.i.am has been demoing, is scheduled for launch in February or March 2015 and will actually come in two versions; one similar to the prototype unit and one more like a Nike+ Fuelband-style device.

We're told this version will be offered by both AT&T and O2.

"It's a company I founded and started after we had success with Beats," explained will.i.am to the Tonight Show host.

"It's a smart cuff, a smart band, that sits on your wrist and you can make phone calls, send SMSs, go on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, count your steps when you work out, it has music and you don't even need a phone."

Will.i.am showed off the 3G skills of the wearable by calling his mum but she said the signal was “in and out”. We’ll let that one slide as he called from within a packed studio - even Steve Jobs had signal issues when demoing new products.


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Wareable Media Group co-CEO Paul launched Wareable with James Stables in 2014, after working for a variety of the UK's biggest and best consumer tech publications including Pocket-lint, Forbes, Electric Pig, Tech Digest, What Laptop, T3 and has been a judge for the TechRadar Awards. 

Prior to founding Wareable, and subsequently The Ambient, he was the senior editor of MSN Tech and has written for a range of publications.


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