7Digital share price surges after talks with Will.I.Am for smartwatch music service confirmed
One of the digital darlings of London’s Silicon Roundabout has confirmed it’s in talks with global superstar and tech entrepreneur Will.I.Am to create a music streaming service for his soon-to-launch smartwatch.
7Digital Group said it is in discussions with “respect to the delivery of a music service on a new range of devices, including wearables,” sending its share price surging 50 per cent at pixel time.
The Black Eyed Peas frontman and judge of The Voice is said to be unveiling a smartwatch to rival Apple’s which is expected to have a curved screen.
It can also be used as a standalone device without connection to a phone in contrast to the Apple Watch according to reports.
Will.I.Am has previously shown off a smartwatch device on and episode of The Voice earlier this year. In an appearance on Channel 4 chat show Chatty Man, he also told Alan Carr: “I started the company myself. I funded it, I used my own money to develop it. It’s a phone, it has all my music in it. If I’m working out I could work out with it without wires, with Bluetooth headphones. It’s got Twitter, Instagram, Facebook."
7Digital Group was created from the merger of 7Digital and UBC Media in May in a reverse takeover deal, listing on Aim shortly afterwards. The group signed a £1m deal with Blackberry to provide music services. It also has similar deals with Samsung, Microsoft and HTC.