Snapchat is today not only expanding its scope beyond the ephemeral video messaging app — it is widely known for, but also planning a brand overhaul to define the same. With the unveiling of the camera-equipped ‘Spectacles’, the company has today put all speculations of them building a hardware product to rest. The glasses are expected to go on sale this fall for a (hefty!? still unsure!) price tag of $129.99, reports WSJ.
And with this launch, your beloved Snapchat is now also rebranding itself to Snap Inc., but we’ll talk about it in detail after a while. First, let’s dive in and take a look the spectacular and sexy new ‘Spectacles’.
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The company’s first foray into hardware products is a pair of glasses that is fitted with a 115-degree camera lens on the sides and will record a circular video, giving you a more real sense of the world we live in. The spectacles will come only in one fit-all size and will be available in three colors — black, teal and coral.
Spiegel argues that rectangles are an unnecessary vestige of printing photos on sheets of paper. As you record, your hands are free to pet dogs, hug babies or flail around at a concert. You can reach your arms out to people you’re filming, instead of holding your phone up, as Spiegel describes it, “like a wall in front of your face.”
reads the WSJ article about the launch.
You would no longer need to shove the phone in front of your face to record that perfect snap and capture the moment(very much the same ideology as Casey Neistat’s Beme). Just tap a button on the side of the glasses to start recording a 10-second video which will then sync wirelessly with your phone and is likely to be automatically uploaded to your ‘Snap Story’ at once.
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In conversation with Wall Street Journal, founder and CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel says that the Spectacles will be priced at $129.99 and have a limited distribution of the product in the beginning. He adds that the company “won’t be relied upon for significant immediate revenue.”
Commenting on the same, Spiegel further goes on to say,
We’re going to take a slow approach to rolling them out. It’s about us figuring out if it fits into people’s lives and seeing how they like it.
The glasses are the culmination of a years-long development process and bear a weary resemblance to Google Glass — which also had a similar camer and button(touch interface) on the side of the glasses. But, the important question that once could ask is — whether the ‘Spectacles’ will also be a one-hit wonder and lose its charm in the long-run?
Now, Snap Inc. it is!!
Yes, you’re not reading it wrong! Snapchat is also taking the (in)famous rebranding route with the announcement of its first-ever hardware product. You can say that it following in the footsteps of Apple, who dropped the ‘computer’ from its name when it ventured out into the music player, iphone and now a circumstantial array of products.
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Snapchat has made the decision to drop ‘chat’ from its name and christened itself as ‘Snap Inc.’. Neat, ain’t it? And if you’re still mulling over the refreshing the company name, then its very easy — because Snapchat is no longer a messaging application and its offerings now go beyond that scope.
The app name ‘Snapchat’ however, is expected to remain unchanged because it is in-fact a chat app and killing the brand name of the most popular teen app would be ‘a HUGE mistake’. The application and the new ‘Spectacle’ glasses will now be clubbed under Snap Inc. — the umbrella company setup to administer the various properties of this burgeoning media platform.
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And while the company is parting ways with the ‘chat’ term and just sticking with ‘Snap’, it could also unveil a brand new logo for the same. Take these rumors with a grain of salt, but TechCrunch seems to believe that the company is actually upto something on the branding front. It has recently mounted hoarding showing the Snapchat ghost with crazier eyes than normal. So, the company could be moving towards a ‘camera shutter’ logo(as shown above) to depict the identity of the umbrella organisation.
Also, the company has registered Snap.com and Spectacle.com to add to their carousel of websites related to the rebranding and upcoming product release. Stay tuned for more updates!
