Despite disappointing results for its first (test?) run, Snap(chat) has released a second generation of its Spectacles wearable camera:
Snap today released the next generation of Spectacles, its wearable camera, with new features for taking photos and water resistance. The sunglasses, which have the same striking form as the first-generation model, have been slimmed down and now come in three jewel tones: onyx (black), ruby (red), and sapphire (blue). They're available to order starting today at Spectacles.com for $150 — $20 more than the previous model.
If you've followed the story of Spectacles so far, you know that the first version proved to be a costly misstep for Snap Inc. Although reviewers were generally impressed with their whimsical design, Snap made far more units than the 150,000 or so that it ultimately sold. The company wrote down nearly $40 million in merchandise, and laid off about a dozen people.
Even worse, from the company's perspective, is that people who bought Spectacles didn't use them for very long. According to Business Insider, less than half of users continued to use Spectacles a month after buying them. They were presented as the future of communication, but the first iteration of Spectacles felt more like a toy — a relatively cheap novelty that people used a handful of times before stuffing into a drawer.
Also at TechCrunch, The Guardian, Adweek, and Macworld.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday April 28 2018, @04:43PM
It's reasonable for companies to keep working on this line, as at some point someone's going to have a huge success. But I don't like it and I don't want it. It's going to need to be *really* unobtrusive. And at that point it will do interesting things to social rules. (Cell phones already have...but this is going to be different.)
OTOH, one thing I can safely predict is sites where people show videos of everything they eat.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.