Will.i.am kicks off tech line with clip-on iPhone camera

Pop heavyweight Will.i.am has turned his piercing gaze toward technology, reportedly cooking up a snap-on camera for the iPhone that plays host to its own 14-megapixel sensor.

The asymmetrically-haired producer and The Voice judge says his upcoming accessory has its "own sensor and a better flash", in an interview with the Telegraph.

"You dock your phone into our device and it turns your smart phone into a genius-phone," Mr i.am claims. "We take over the camera."

Details on the hardware are scarce, though a photo published in the Telegraph suggests a white and gold casing with a honking great lens that sits over the iPhone's own camera.

It certainly sounds daft, but simple hardware tweaks can produce some interesting photos. The iPhone 4, 4S and 5 all have decent cameras to start with, and you can take some surprisingly decent photos just by holding the phone up to a pair of binoculars. If the i.am+ camera really does have its own sensor however, image quality is up in the air.

The synth-infused Will.i.am, who's song Reach for the Stars was beamed down to Earth via the Mars Curiosity rover, now owns the URL www.i.am, and says a broader range of tech hardware is incoming.

Popstars sticking their names on bits of gadgetry is nothing new, but for some reason I have this feeling that Will.i.am could become the most powerful force in consumer technology. Perhaps it's his haircut.

More information including a price-tag for the bizarre-sounding accessory will be revealed next week, so stay tuned.