Wearables are not something Intel is known for, but that doesn’t mean that the CPU maker isn’t allowed to give them a try. The MICA luxury smart bracelet mark’s Intel’s debut in this industry.
This is a bit of a surprising news, as most people expect any announcements coming from Intel to be related to their processors. Surprises aside, it looks like the company is only targeting a niche with its first wearable, namely rich women from the US. Why from the US? Mainly because that’s where luxury retailer Barneys New York and Opening Ceremony stores, the main distributors of this wearable, are located. The latter, which is a fashion house, also collaborated with Intel on making this high-end smart bracelet.
MICA, whose name is an acronym for “My Intelligent Communication Accessory,” features a curved sapphire touchscreen display, and that’s probably its main selling point. Priced at under $1,000, MICA doesn’t do much besides displaying SMS messages, calendar reminders, meeting alerts and other such notifications. For doing so, Intel’s MICA bracelet obviously needs to be paired with a smartphone. However, the wearable also packs a 3G cellular radio that permits two-way wireless data communication for a smartphone-free operation. Charging the bracelet is quite simple, and can be done either via a USB cable, or wirelessly with the help of a charger that might be sold separately. Other than that, not much is known about the device, but Intel is said to provide more details in October.
Intel’s high-end smart bracelet should be a hit among fashionistas. After all, models Kirsten Owen and Ajak Deng (pictured above, from left to right) were used in the promotional campaign for this device, so the target audience should resemble them.
Both versions of the wearable will be built around water-snake snake, with the mention that one is white and the other one is black. The black one features pearls from China and lapis stones from Madagascar, while the white version will include white water-snake skin, tiger’s eye from South Africa, and obsidian from Russia. With Intel and Opening Ceremony’s smart bracelet, it’s more about the style than the functionality, but that doesn’t mean that the device should be dismissed right away. Who knows what innovative functions Intel will announce next month?
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