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Snap Inc. unveiled the company’s new “Specs” augmented-reality glasses on Tuesday with an eye-watering $2,195 price tag – and CEO Evan Spiegel is touting the devices as a potential alternative for smartphones.
The thick-framed black glasses have been unveiled in a splashy celeb advertising and marketing marketing campaign that featured model Kaia Gerber, NBA star Jimmy Butler and rapper Jack Harlow.
Featuring about 4 hours of battery life, Specs might be succesful operating apps through an overlay that will mix seamlessly as the person goes about their daily life, according to Snap.
Model Kaia Gerber poses carrying Snap’s Specs. Steven Meisel / Snap
Specs are “the beginning of a new era in computing,” Spiegel boasted.
“The smartphone put our lives in our pockets,” he said. “Specs put computing into the world, where life actually happens.”
Specs have been made obtainable for pre-order and are anticipated to ship to clients in the US, United Kingdom and France this fall. The $2,195 price embody a $200 refundable deposit.
“Imagine walking through a city and seeing directions exactly where you need them, measuring a space without pulling out a tape measure, or getting help from AI while you’re working on a project instead of stopping to search for an answer. That’s what makes augmented reality different,” Snap says on the product’s web site.
Snap shares have been down more than 4% in Tuesday trading – a potential signal that Wall Street was skeptical about the announcement.
Snap is pushing into an more and more crowded market for AI wearables – and customers have been slow to embrace the technology. Apple’s Vision Pro augmented-reality headset, which prices over $3,000, has yet to turn out to be a major gross sales driver for the tech giant.
Rapper Jack Harlow also participated in the launch marketing campaign. Steven Meisel / Snap
Meta, Snap’s main rival in the social media sector, sells its own sensible glasses in collaboration with Ray-Ban but hasn’t yet launched augmented-reality rims. OpenAI is also developing some form of AI-powered wearable machine, though it’s unclear what kind it can take.
Snap’s earlier foray into sensible glasses, the $130 Spectacles, have been launched in 2016 and never grew to become a big hit with clients.
However, the company argues that Specs, which wre developed with a proprietary working system and more than 7,000 patents, offer much more performance to the public than other devices developed by rivals. Specs might be obtainable in two sizes.
Specs will ship this fall. Snap
“Today’s devices force a tradeoff between capability and wearability,” the company said in a press release.
“AI glasses are wearable, but limited in what they can do. Headsets are powerful, but can be uncomfortable to wear and shut people out of the world. Specs represent a new category: more capable than AI glasses, more wearable than headsets, and fully standalone, with no puck or tether.”
The glasses have been unveiled at a precarious time for Snap, the stock of which has plummeted more than 30% since the start of the yr and is now trading at under $6 per share.
Evan Spiegel is pushing Specs as a potential various to the smartphone. Getty Images for Snap
In April, the company slashed about 1,000 jobs, or 16% of its general workforce, and closed another 300 open roles. Spiegel said the belt-tightening effort was half of Snap’s effort to rely more closely on AI instruments to increase effectivity — the latest tech company to make that declare.
“While these changes are necessary to realize Snap’s long-term potential, we believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers,” Spiegel said in a memo at the time.
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