Despite somewhat sluggish sales for its first generation of spectacles, recently published FCC documents confirm that Snapchat is working on a second generation anyway.
Spotted first by Variety, the documents highlight a “wearable video camera” made by Snap Inc with label branding which shows ‘Spectacles’ and ‘Model 002’. Most of the documents are blocked off thanks to a confidentiality request so it’s hard to dig into the details of the technology being used in the glasses. However, it appears that the second generation will support 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 for faster file transfer.
This confirmation comes not long after a report from Cheddar suggested that Snapchat was planning a second generation of glasses for 2018 and even a third for 2019, despite the fact that in its Q4 2017 note to investors Snapchat itself said it wasn’t planning to annualize the smart specs.
Fool me once
Cheddar’s report stated that the third generation of Snapchat Specs would sport two cameras, GPS and have a price point near $300, however the documents don’t confirm this.
It’s worth noting that just because a product has been filed in the FCC database, it doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed for release. However, it’s a pretty good indication of intent and with the recent Cheddar report backing it up it seems we may actually see new Snapchat Specs after all.
Though the original Snapchat Spectacles weren’t a terrible idea (editor’s note: yes, they were) and their marketing campaign was actually rather successful, this high didn’t last long and the company ended up struggling to shift stock.
This previous struggle in combination with Snapchat’s recent struggle to retain favor with users who are turning to Instagram makes another foray into expensive smart specs seem like a brave venture to us.
Source: techradar.com