Intel Offers Developers Sneak 'Peak' at New Basis Smart Band

While Intel’s (INTC) playing catch-up with tablets, it’s also trying to get in on the ground floor with wearables, showing off the Basis Peak fitness band to a developer audience at its 14th annual Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week and announcing it will ship the device in November.

Intel wearables boss Mike Bell, a former longtime Apple (AAPL) executive, offered developers a sneak peek at the new smartband—a thinner, lighter upgrade sporting more battery life and an improved screen than the current models available from the Basis online store, which sell for $150 to $200.

Intel bought Basis last March. It’s a purchase that only recently has taken on more meaning with the chip giant’s new R&D agreement with consumer lifestyle and fashion accessory specialist Fossil Group to develop wearable technology for the fashion industry.

Bell said Basis was early on to track fitness, particularly with a heart rate monitor that can track over a number of days, as recounted by PC World. He also acknowledged that Apple’s Watch “is legitimizing it for everyone.”

Intel intends to offer OEMs software development kits to help them build hardware around the chip maker’s embedded Edison chip. Rather than asking users to learn how to use each mobile device and application separately, Intel’s position is there has to be a common architecture.

“We want to provide a common way … to use these devices and for developers to take these common building blocks and turn them into reality,” he said.

Bell told ZDNet that tying wearables to a smartphone isn’t “the way of the future,” and that wearables should have their own data plan. For example, Intel’s new MICA bracelet, built in a collaboration with Opening Ceremony, will have its own AT&T data deal.

Partnerships are Intel’s key to making headway in wearables, Bell said.