Snapchat changes name and launches Google Glass-style spectacles
Social media app Snapchat has announced plans to release its first wearable – a set of Google Glass-style spectacles.
“We’ve been working for the past few years to develop a totally new type of camera. We call it Spectacles!” the firm said in a blog post.
“We’ve created one of the smallest wireless video cameras in the world, capable of taking a day’s worth of Snaps on a single charge…”
What you essentially get are sunglasses for kids with an integrated video camera. By tapping a button on the top left-hand corner of the glasses, the recording mode is activated and 10 seconds of video is captured. A second tap activates 30 seconds of continuous video recording. A ring of tiny lights lets you and the people around you know you are recording.
The information is then sent directly to Snapchat via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (depending on whether you are on iOS or Android). What sets Spectacles’ footage apart is that it captures the human perspective with a 115 degree field of view that resembles the human eye’s natural field of view.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel says that the glasses will help to stop the social network’s 150 million daily users from holding their phones “like a wall in front of your face”. And added that they have been designed to be a “toy”.
“We’re going to take a slow approach to rolling them out,” Spiegel said.
“It’s about us figuring out if it fits into people’s lives and seeing how they like it.”
The Spectacles, which will cost $129.99, will come in three colours. According to The Wall Street Journal they will have a limited launch in the fall, first in the US then in other countries.
The company, which was launched four years ago, also announced that it has renamed itself to Snap. The app will still be called Snapchat, it’s just the company name that’s changed. There is also an appropriately named website Spectacles.com where you can go to find more details.
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