Last month news broke that the makers of Snapchat were planning to give this whole wearable gadget thing another try. After failing to make Snap Spectacles more than a passing fad in 2016, the company is allegedly working on 2nd and 3rd-gen hardware with some improvements and new features.
A new listing on the FCC website seems to give credence to that report. Say hello to “Snap Spectacles” model 002.
There aren’t many details in the FCC documents, other than the name and the description of the gadget as a “wearable video camera.” We do also know that the new model will support 802.11ac WiFi.
But if a report from Cheddar last month is correct, the new model will basically be just a modest update with some new color options, a water resistant design, and other minor changes.
It seems unlikely that those changes would be enough to attract folks who were unimpressed by Snap’s original Spectacles. Not everyone needs a pair of sunglasses that can record short videos that are uploaded to Snapchat: you probably already have a phone that can do that.
But Cheddar reports that the 3rd-gen version which is set to launch next year could include new features such as dual cameras with support for 3D video recording as well as GPS and an updated design. It could also be more than twice as expensive as the original Snap Spectacles, which retailed for $129.