CANNES — Where’s the love for Tim Cook?
Musician-turned-tech entrepreneur Will.i.am, who debuted his own Puls smartwatch last year to mixed reviews, took a shot at Cook’s new Apple Watch during a panel discussion at the Cannes Lions festival.
The Black Eyed Peas founder suggested Apple should make its watch work independently from its phone, saying he recently saw a man at the gym with an iPhone 6 strapped to his arm even though he was wearing an Apple Watch.
“I went to work out and I was like, that s- -t is weird,” he told interviewer Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce.com.
At the same time, Will.i.am was talking up probably the biggest selling point for the Puls, which can make calls without being connected to a smartphone. “It knows if I’m running, sitting or driving,” without the need for other devices, he said.
Will.i.am did pay homage to Apple’s revolutionary phone, however, saying it had demolished rivals ranging from BlackBerry to Nokia and Motorola.
“The iPhone toppled everything, we totally changed our behavior,” he said, before adding, “But something is going to happen to things you wear.”
The executive has tapped Vogue contributing editor Andre Leon Talley as his company’s fashion director to bring fashion sensibility to the world of wearable tech.
Coke executives also appearing on the panel got a giggle from the audience when they demonstrated a digital marketing effort and showed an iPhone on screen.
“Sorry, Will,” quipped the demonstrator.