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Flogging a dead horse, Snap plans another version of its camera glasses
Despite previous attempts ending in failure, Snap Inc. apparently is once again launching a new version of its Spectacles camera glasses.
According to Cheddar, the third incarnation — or fourth or fifth given that Snap released two new models in September after releasing the official second version in April — the new Spectacles will feature two cameras instead of just one.
The new Spectacles are said to support augmented reality with the ability to create 3-D-like photo effects from footage taken by the device. The report also claimed the new hardware is intended to further Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel’s “grand vision of eventually creating eyewear technology that seamlessly overlays virtual objects onto the real world.”
The original Spectacles launched in September 2016, but by October 2017 it was revealed that they had been a massive flop. It’s not known how many of the second incarnation of Spectacles sold, but it was predicted to fail as well and beyond the launch, the sunglasses-cameras have received very little attention.
Once considered the new Facebook for millennials and Generation Z, Snap has struggled as the Facebook Inc.-owned Instagram has become the social network of choice for those under 30.
In September it was reported that Snap was now trying to become profitable by attempting to fix the mistakes of the past, in particular, a redesign decision in 2017 that was only appreciated by Instagram given how many users left Snapchat as a result.
How a new version of its Spectacles will help Snap is unknown and it’s a question that its shareholders will likely be asking as well. It’s one thing to double down on a troubled product, but it’s something entirely different to keep flogging a well-known dead horse.
Snap’s share price dropped to yet another low today, closing at $6.08 a share, half the price it was trading at in August. That’s also well below its initial public offering price of $17 a share and its opening-day close of $24.51.
Photo: Cheddar/Snap
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