Will.i.am to Launch Line of iPhone Accessories

Will.i.am carrying the i.am+ camera for iPhone 4 at the Ekocycle brand launch in New York in October

*Will.I.am is set to launch a new line of accessories, named “i.am+,” for Apple’s iPhone.

The Black Eyed Peas star, who was hired as a creative director for technology firm Intel last year, has created a collection of hardware which he insists will transform the cell phones.

The first product from his “i.am+” line is an accessory that clips onto an iPhone and transforms the eight megapixel smartphone camera into a 14 megapixel camera, which dramatically enhances the clarity and definition of the photographs. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he says: “We have our own sensor and a better flash. You dock you phone into our device and it turns you smartphone into a genius-phone. We take over the camera.”

The multi-Grammy-award-winning singer and musician said he came up with the idea at a photo shoot in London in 2008. “I was just hanging out afterwards, and one of the models took an iPhone picture, which circulated the planet before the shoot was even over,” he says. “I took one of the photographer’s lenses and held it up on my [phone] and said ‘imagine this one day.’ Then I said: “I’m going to do this.’”

The first i.am+ camera makes an appearance in the music video for “Scream and Shout,” a collaborative single for Will.i.am and Britney Spears that is included on his solo album release “#willpower.”

Apple has granted i.am+ a development license to produce and sell the camera accessory and camera app for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5, but Will.i.am says that a larger line of tech hardware will follow.

The debut series of i.am+ camera accessories will be officially launched at a press conference in London on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Pricing will be announced at that time.