People will be able to record up to 10 seconds of video by tapping a button on the hinge. The startup’s first foray into hardware will be a pair of glasses called “Spectacles” and will go on sale this fall for $129.99, according to The WSJ.
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Spectacles record a circular video which the company argues is more natural as compared to the typical rectangular format employed by every other device.
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Because Snapchat is more than just a messaging application now, the company also announced it would adopt a new name, Snap Inc. Spectacles’ clips wirelessly sync to a smartphone, allowing users to easily share their videos – although the company did not confirm whether the Snapchat app would be a prerequisite to video distribution.
CEO of the company said watching the videos recorded on the glasses is like “seeing my own memory”. CEO Evan Spiegel says that it needed a name which goes beyond the one product it had when it started out while staying true to its origins. The camera has a wider lens than the one found on smartphones, with a 115-degree angle and it has the possibility to record circular videos that are later stored in the Snapchat app for viewing and sharing. Since their only objective is to capture short videos, Snap’s Spectacles will only cost about $130. We were walking through the woods, stepping over logs, looking up at the handsome trees, ‘ he told the WSJ before a photoshoot with fashion photographer Karl Lagerfeld.
Spectacles will be marketed in all sizes and will come in black, teal or coral colours.
And as part of this, the company is also re-branding itself to Snap, Inc. “It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like I was there again”, he added.
The launch of Spectacles is definitely a bold move by Spiegel, especially considering the fate of Google Glass.
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Just hours before the announcement became public, Business Insider published leaked video of what appears to be a commercial for Spectacles, which you can see here.
