Turns out it was more than just rumors when reports that Snapchat Snap Inc. had created camera glasses. The first hardware device of the company is a pair of connected sunglasses called “Spectacles” and will soon start selling for $129.99. This is according to reports by The WSJ.
The glasses are pretty easy to use as you just have to tap a button on the side. The Video feature will be just like Snapchat’s app, as you can only capture 10 seconds of video at once. This then sync’s wirelessly to the phone, making it available to share as a snap.
They come in only one size, but will be available in three colors – black, teal and coral.
A major feature is that the camera will use a 115-degree lens (which is wider than a smartphone or regular camera) and the video captured will be circular. No one knows how the video will look, but since the field of view is so large Snapchat could either crop it to a vertical format or update the app to allow viewing of circular views.
These Spectacles will be available publicly later this year, and Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel told the WSJ that they will not “be relied upon for significant immediate revenue” and have “limited distribution”. This Implies that Spectacles might be like Google Glass when it came out, on sale to the public but hard to get.
Snapchat will also be dropping “chat” from its name and changing to Snap Inc., as we had earlier speculated would happen. This implies that the Snapchat app isn’t the only product the company now owns.
