MICA, my intelligent communication accessory, is the newest wearable to come to the forefront. It is Intel and Opening Ceremony’s new baby and does not need to connect to a phone to work. It  has 3G radio and a  AT&T SIM card with a two-year wireless service plan included in the price of $495. After two years the service expires and he user will have to open up a new contract with At&T to keep using MICA. Sneaky sneaky.  $495 might seem expensive to some, but did I not mention it is not only a very smart wearable, but it is also gorgeous, but what else would be expect from Opening Ceremony?! “It features 18-karat gold coating and a curved sapphire glass touch-screen display on the back of the cuff. There are two styles, one in black water snake with pearls from China and lapis from Madagascar; the other in white water snake with tiger’s eye from South Africa and obsidian from Russia.” It will be available at both Opening Ceremony and Barney’s beginning early next month.

The bracelet  also links with the user’s Google Calendar and Facebook account for event notifications, and receives incoming texts and e-mails from certain designated contacts in Gmail. This means the owner can receive and answer, with short designated replies, anywhere they want to, even somewhere that might have been somewhat sticky to take out a phone, such as a dinner meeting, or even while multitasking at the grocery store, with ease. For example “I’ll call you back,” can be sent out even while you are sitting in a busy conference room. This phone is for the busy, yet fashionable woman, who wants a wearable that looks like jewelry, but still gets things done.

“The device has a separate number from the user’s cell phone that will have to be made available to contacts.  MICA has also partnered with Yelp and TomTom, so that users can access local businesses based on the bracelet’s GPS and figure out travel time and distance between appointments. If the user is roaming a new neighborhood, he or she can access a list of nearby coffee shops or restaurants. Software updates will be available via the Cloud.” This device is also one of the very few wearables to have the screen be inside on the wrist rather than ontop, like a watch, so it is even more discreet and puts design and fashion at the forefront. Intel even made a short video with Rashida Jones wearing MICA, answering business calls and emails and multitasking, even ordering Baklava to send to an important client. All the things a busy, yet fashionable woman might have to do.

MICA is the first wearable being offered by Barney’s and Opening Ceremony and undeniably the most exotic and beautiful out there as of now. We’ll see how other designer/technology duos try to step up their game now, especially after the addition of water snake to the table

http://www.wwd.com/media-news/digital/intel-opening-ceremony-talk-mica-8035448