The company behind one of the world’s most popular mobile phone apps, Snapchat, has changed its name and announced a major new product. ‘Spectacles’ are sunglasses with a built-in camera, which can record first person footage in ‘circular’ video, ending need to choose between filming in portrait or landscape.
Prompted by its expansion beyond just one app, Snapchat has now become Snap Inc – though the picture messaging app will still be known by its original name – and calls itself “a camera company”.
If successful, Spectacles could be a significant boon for Snap, encouraging more users to its apps through the product. Footage will be viewed with the ‘Memories’ section of the Snapchat app. Although reminiscent of the Google Glass project, observers say Spectacles are seemingly better designed and simpler. They are also cheaper, to be priced at around £100, compared to more than £1,000 for Google Glass.
Many agree the most exciting aspect of the product is its circular video, which according to Snap: “Plays full screen on any device, in any orientation, and captures the human perspective with a 115 degree field of view.”
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Source: Independent