Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Gear : Bracelets : Intel MICA

Gear : Bracelets : Intel MICA

We’ve been keeping our eyes on Intel’s MICA, the fashionable smart bracelet designed in partnership with Opening Ceremony and Barneys New York. MICA is probably the most concerted effort yet towards building a wearable just for women, and now we know that it can also be the perfect holiday gift for your high tech fashionista—MICA is officially getting a December release with a $495 price tag.

In addition to confirming the December release, Intel also confirmed the final feature set for the device at their launch event earlier this week. As we knew from before, MICA will function as a standalone device, instead of being a smartphone companion. We heard earlier that AT&T would be the exclusive carrier, and that’s still true, but it fortunately won’t add to your wireless bill. MICA comes with an AT&T SIM card inside, and two years of data service is included with purchase.

With MICA, you’ll get Facebook and Gmail notifications and text messages straight to your wrist. For the latter, implementation is a little awkward because MICA has its own SIM card, so the text messages will have to go to that phone number instead of your regular home phone number. There’s also Yelp and TomTom integration, so you can find places of interest around you and get directions. You can also create a contact list specific to the device.

MICA is definitely fashion accessory first, wearable device second—an approach that has understated merit in the wearable market. It’s a wide bracelet coated with 18k gold and has a curved sapphire glass display, the sort that will also be found on the upcoming Apple Watch. As we heard before, MICA will come in two styles—black water snake skin with inlaid pearls and lapis stones and white water snake skin with inlaid tiger’s eye and obsidian stones.

There won’t be anything in the way of voice or text input, so you’ll be limited to the preset options Intel has on their proprietary wearable software. While that might be a little frustrating, MICA ultimately exists as something meant to be purchased as a bracelet first, with the smart features there as a bonus. It’s an interesting approach to wearables, and we’re curious to see how MICA will be received this holiday season.

MICA will be available in early December in the Opening Ceremony stores in New York and Los Angeles and in Barneys New York stores. If neither of those are anywhere near you, don’t fret—MICA will be available on OpeningCeremony.us and Barneys.com.


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Sources : Intel MICA Photo | Intel MICA Article

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