I.am+
American consumer electronics brand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
i.am+ is an American technology company based in Los Angeles, California.[1][2] The company was founded by musician and entrepreneur will.i.am,[3] in 2013 with the mission of "creating wearable products that combine fashion and technology."[4] In 2016, i.am+ acquired Israeli machine learning software company Sensiya, now known as over.ai.[5]
| |
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Hollywood, California |
| Owner | will.i.am |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | iamplus |
Products
i.am+ camera for iPhone 4
In 2012 i.am+ announced a camera accessory for the iPhone 4.[6]
dial
dial was a SIM-enabled smartwatch available in the UK exclusively through Three. Featuring a voice-enabled AI named AneedA, the smartwatch was the first of its kind with a conversational operating system.[7] The dial did not need to be tethered to a smart phone and could send calls and SMS messages independently. Included with the dial was music streaming service with over 20 million songs.[citation needed]
EPs
i.am+ EPs are high-end Bluetooth headphones. The circular and phones form was supposedly designed to echo their namesake vinyl records. The EPs feature a woven fabric cable and a magnetic clip so they can be worn around the neck when not in use.[8]
BUTTONS
The EPs were replaced with the 2nd generation of bluetooth headphones (now called i.am+ BUTTONS). i.am+ BUTTONS launched in November 2016.[9]
over.ai
In July 2016, i.am+ acquired Israeli company Sensiya, now over.ai, to continue research and development of their machine learning and natural language understanding technologies.[10]
Wink
In July 2017, i.am+ purchased Wink, a software and hardware manufacturer, from Flex in a $38.7 million deal.[11]
Earin
In January 2018 i.am+ attempted to acquire Swedish earbuds startup Earin.[12] The acquisition later fell through for undisclosed reasons.[13]
Omega Voice Assistant
In October 2018, i.am+ announced a new platform agnostic voice assistant called Omega.[14]
In 2018, Majid Al Futtaim formed a partnership with i.am+ to introduce its omega technology in the Middle east, Asia, and Africa.[15]
Funding
In November 2017, the company secured $117 million in funding. Prior to this, it had raised $89 million from a group, including Salesforce.[3]
Controversy
In late 2019, the company was the subject of multiple tax liens, with the California Franchise Tax Board alleging over $500,000 in delinquent taxes and the IRS alleging $1.78 million in delinquent taxes and interest.[16]
