Snapchat’s Wild New Specs Won’t Share Google Glass’ Fate
There are two important new things to know about Snapchat. First, it’s just Snap now. That’s easy enough. The second may be a little bit harder to process: The ephemeral chat mavens will sell video-grabbing sunglasses, called Spectacles, starting this fall.
24 September 2016
| Lacey Glave
|
via
WIRED
There are two important new things to know about Snapchat. First, it’s just Snap now. That’s easy enough. The second may be a little bit harder to process: The ephemeral chat mavens will sell video-grabbing sunglasses, called Spectacles, starting this fall.
Spectacles (Specs, for short) were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which detailed quirky features—like shooting circular video rather than rectangles—but spent appreciably less time on Spectacles’ real predecessor: Google Glass, a faceputer that promised the future, but turned out to be a colossal failure.
That may well be the fate for Specs as well. The name alone doesn’t instill confidence. But whatever reservations you might (rightly) have about wearing camera glasses, don’t mistake Specs for Glass 2.0. They’ve got a lot more going for them than that.
Let’s start with what Specs do and how they do it. They’re sunglasses, available in three colors, that come with a small camera built into the upper left and right sides of the frames. Tap a button near the left camera, and Specs records for 10 seconds.
Additional taps get you 10 more seconds each, up to 30 seconds at a time. To stop recording sooner, press and hold the same button. The Snaps will live on your Specs until you transfer them to your smartphone, over Wi-Fi for Android and Bluetooth for iOS by default (you can also fiddle with setting if you prefer Wi-Fi transfer for your iPhone). The Specs Snaps, bless their alliterative hearts, will be saved in the Memories section of your Snapchat app.
An inward-facing light will let you know when your camera is activated, but more importantly, an outward-facing light lets people around you know that they’re being filmed. Snap says Specs should last about a day on one charge, and come with a charging case that can you about a week’s worth of juice. The whole set-up costs $130.
Spectacles (Specs, for short) were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which detailed quirky features—like shooting circular video rather than rectangles—but spent appreciably less time on Spectacles’ real predecessor: Google Glass, a faceputer that promised the future, but turned out to be a colossal failure.
That may well be the fate for Specs as well. The name alone doesn’t instill confidence. But whatever reservations you might (rightly) have about wearing camera glasses, don’t mistake Specs for Glass 2.0. They’ve got a lot more going for them than that.
Let’s start with what Specs do and how they do it. They’re sunglasses, available in three colors, that come with a small camera built into the upper left and right sides of the frames. Tap a button near the left camera, and Specs records for 10 seconds.
Additional taps get you 10 more seconds each, up to 30 seconds at a time. To stop recording sooner, press and hold the same button. The Snaps will live on your Specs until you transfer them to your smartphone, over Wi-Fi for Android and Bluetooth for iOS by default (you can also fiddle with setting if you prefer Wi-Fi transfer for your iPhone). The Specs Snaps, bless their alliterative hearts, will be saved in the Memories section of your Snapchat app.
An inward-facing light will let you know when your camera is activated, but more importantly, an outward-facing light lets people around you know that they’re being filmed. Snap says Specs should last about a day on one charge, and come with a charging case that can you about a week’s worth of juice. The whole set-up costs $130.
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