Social media giant, Snapchat, has taken another crack at the global smart glasses market, following rumours both Apple and Amazon are developing their own pair.
The new ‘Veronica’ and ‘Nico’ Snap specs will retail for US$200 and feature thinner frames with polarised lenses. Both models claim to offer a sleeker, stylish design, with similar components as the predecessing Snap Spectacles 2.
Snap’s new smart glasses are now available in the United States, Canada and some parts of Europe (e.g. Germany, France), with Australian pricing and availability yet to be confirmed.
Both products will retail internationally from Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and potentially Amazon later this year, with the products closely resembling regular glasses – hiding the fact they’re recording video.
Unlike Snap’s former specs, the new smart glasses only come in black, and claim to record up to 70 videos from a single charge.
Latest IDC numbers claim the global wearables market has jumped 5.5% YoY in Q2.
Whilst wearable growth has largely been driven by smartwatches, Apple’s Tim Cook has famously said smart glasses may become a core component of future tech.
The news comes as Snapchat seeks to boost hardware revenues, reversing its $40 million write-down from unsold first-gen specs. The social media giant reportedly sold only 220,000 pairs of its first smart glasses.
