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Snapchat Changes its Name, Expands Into Sunglasses

Want more? Just tap again and now you can record up to 30 seconds of video.

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Imagine one of your favorite memories. And when I got the footage back and watched it, I could see my own memory, through my own eyes-it was unbelievable. Why they chose to call them “Spectacles” when we could’ve had “Snaptacles” remains a mystery.

The company also changed its name to Snap Inc., a move which CEO Evan Spiegel said reflects the company’s future.

Could Snap Inc.’s Spectacle succeed where wearable tech like Google Glass did not?

The new Twitter account is now live with surprising branding saying that Snap Inc is a camera company. Unlike Google Glass, which was essentially a rather expensive (and unattractive) computer for your face that happened to also include video-recording features, Snap’s Spectacles cost less than a pair of designer sunglasses and function for one objective and one goal only: to capture short videos for your Snapchat. Plus, users will be able to have their hands free, which will lend a more personal, first-person perspective to Snaps.

In any case, distribution of Spectacles is expected to be in limited quantities, with a price tag of $130.

An article published by the Wall Street Journal on Friday showed Snap’s 26-year-old creator Evan Spiegel in a series of pictures taken by fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld. “It’s about us figuring out if it fits into people’s lives and seeing how they like it”. It’s one thing to see images of an experience you had, but it’s another thing to have an experience of the experience.

“Spectacles’ camera uses a 115-degree-angle lens, wider than a typical smartphone’s and much closer to the eyes’ natural field of view”. With this device, the videos you choose to share on Snapchat will appear in a “circular video format”.

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Spectacles will connect to your phone via a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection, according to the company blog. Despite the extensive effort, he calls Spectacles a toy, built for people to have fun – not to be the game-changer that Google Glass was meant to be.

Spectacles are similar to Google's Glass in that both have a camera but Snap's offering can do just two things take short videos and keep the sun out of your eyes