[CES 2012] I’m Core Reaches For The Sky, Reeks Of Vaporware

By David Ponce

The “I’m” folks are at it again. “I’m” as in that’s the name of their products. First it was the I’m Watch. Now it’s an entire line of related products called I’m Circle. And what they’re proposing is quite revolutionary, if only too good to be possible. The idea is to eliminate overlapping technology in various devices by simply removing that particular tech from them and putting it in one central hub that would then act as a processing server. For example, there’s a microprocessor in your phone. There’s also one in your tablet. Why do you need two, when you could just share one?

The center of this new proposed ecosystem of tethered devices would be the I’m Core, the keychain-sized hub that would contain a quad-core processor, a GPS chip, a WiFi chip and a SIM card. Then, there are plans for a smartphone, a tablet, a flatscreen TV and what looks like a media server, all of which would connect to the I’m Core. They’d all be named something starting with “I’m”, with a stated time to market of late 2012. And I’m ready to bet good money this will never happen. Here’s why.

In principle this is a good idea. But there are tremendous hurdles that a virtually unknown company, with unknown funding and expertise, can’t overcome. And there are so many loose ends… Like how to fit a SIM, a GPS chip, a Wifi chip and a quad-core processor, as well as a battery and some charging apparatus in something that’s supposed to be the size of a matchbook? And how can a simple quad-core processor be expected to keep up if a user decides to simultaneously watch an HD movie, get on his phone, while someone else in the house uses the tablet? And how can a company who’s only brought a touchscreen wattch to market suddenly be expected to crank out four or five revolutionary devices at once? Within a year and without a prototype or even proof of concept? This… just can’t be done without huge sums of money and well oiled R&D departments. Maybe this company can put their money where their mouth is and I’ll be proven wrong. In the meantime, I’m calling BS.

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