If you buy into the popular line of commercials, Microsoft is a buttoned-up, nerdy know-it-all and Apple is a young, easy-going hipster with style to spare. What does that make the Los Altos-based WIMM Labs? Based on its announcement of a "wearable platform" that straps apps to your wrist, the answer is obvious: a super spy.
The WIMM Platform itself boasts the expected full-color touch screen interface (measuring 1.4 inches) and Wi-Fi capabilities consumers take for granted. The company says the module will feature content such as customizable watch faces and Open SDK-crafted, Android-powered micro apps out of the box. However, it can also connect to iOS and Blackberry devices via Bluetooth pairing. This type of flexibility and refusal to play favorites is important for potential implementation into myriad devices according to WIMM Labs CEO Dave Mooring.
"We’ve created an incredibly powerful, yet small, modular device that can be embedded into a wide variety of consumer products," Mooring said. "Combined with customizable applications and a branded web interface, the WIMM Labs Platform give licensees the ability to create more personal, intuitive and valuable connections with customers."
WIMM Labs rattled off some early concepts on how the technology could be used: athletic watches, automated payment devices and health monitors. In other words, it may be some time before those pie-in-the-sky applications see daylight. The company says it's preparing a public SDK this fall where it hopes Android devs will craft WIMM-exclusive apps, so expect more news on the burgeoning platform by the end of the year.
Considering how new research predicts multi-use devices will handily supplant their single-use counterparts in the years to come, WIMM Labs' decision to offer as much variety in its product as possible is a smart call. The big questions now are how much the WIMM will cost, and whether or not people even want such a device. After all, we can't all be James Bond. (via BetaNews)
