Do you remember Google Glass? No? Not terribly surprising, given the lack of interest in what was essentially a search engine you could attach to your face. And now comes word that Snapchat is betting on your lack of interest in that product while at the same time streamlining the idea to make it more efficient and customer friendly.
Now known as Snap Inc., the company will soon offer video glasses, to be called Spectacles and designed to upload 10-second video clips to the social media platform. And it can be yours for the affordable price of $130 per pair.
Per Variety, Spectacles will connect to the Snapchat app via either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The videos, which will be captured with a 115-degree field of view in order to, as Snap Inc. says, match human visual perspective. Spectacles will be offered in three colors: black, teal and coral.
Snap Inc. now has a revamped website in which it refers to itself as “a camera company.” The site refers to Spectacles as “sunglasses with an integrated video camera that makes it easy to create Memories.” And CEO Evan Spiegel notes in a blog post announcing the product that “now that we are developing other products, like Spectacles, we need a name that goes beyond just one product – but doesn’t lose the familiarity and fun of our team and brand.”
Seeing as how Google Glass cost around $1,500, Spectacles instantly sound more appealing given both the streamlined nature of the product and the far less expensive retail price. It also probably doesn’t hurt that Spectacles have been designed to hold an entire day’s worth of battery charge and can refuel within their cases.
You won’t have to wait long to get your hands on a pair of Spectacles. They will be rolled out later on this year.
(via Variety)
