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Snapchat launches Spectacles, sunglasses with built-in camera

By Liu Hongzuo - on 26 Sep 2016, 10:18am

Snapchat launches Spectacles, sunglasses with built-in camera

Spectacles by Snapchat, as seen in their promotional video.

Last Friday, Snapchat revealed Spectacles, their latest hardware gadget to Wall Street Journal and Business Insider. Spectacles are a pair of sunglasses with a built-in video camera that will work directly with their voyeuristic app.

According to Ars Technica, Spectacles will contain an 115-degree camera lens and a fisheye effect for any videos taken. The record button can be found near the glasses’ hinges, and it records exactly 10 seconds of video – every tap on Spectacles records new footage. There are no other technical specifications unveiled yet.

Evan Spiegel, the 26-year old CEO of Snapchat, told Wall Street Journal that Spectacles should be regarded as a toy. The decision to create it, however, was anything but flippant. Spectacles were first tested by Spiegel and his fiancĂ©e during a vacation in early 2015. The gadget also takes away the limitations of relying on a user’s smartphone camera, and Spiegel hinted that there are far-reaching implications if Snapchat has control over image production.

The creation of Spectacles also led Snapchat’s holding company to rebrand itself. Now, it will be known as Snap Inc., and it houses both software and hardware offerings, such as the Snapchat app and the Spectacles gadget.

Currently, a pair of Spectacles will set a Snapchat user back by US$129. It will be available in three colors – Black, Teal, and Coral – come Fall 2016 (around Q3 2016). While details are sparse at the moment, we’ve appended Spectacle’s promotional video below for a better look.

Source: Ars Technica, Wall Street Journal

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