Snap’s Specs AR glasses were annouced back in June, and while we got a preview of what they look like and what they do, there were quite a few glaring questions, such as… what exactly you’ll be able to do with them. At a launch event this week, the company finally revealed a little bit more about what spending $2,195 gets you.
Among the apps announced today are HBO Max for watching content in the AR glasses, as well as Spotify for listening to music, though that won’t be available until after the Specs launch. Strangely, there’s also a Shopify app for 3D shopping experiences, which was not on my bingo card. I can’t imagine wanting to shop in a pair of glasses, but to each their own, I guess.
On the more interactive side of things, there’s a Harry Potter experience tied to HBO’s upcoming TV series that looks… interesting. I’d need to see more to really get a feel for how gimmicky that is, though.
In that same interactive vein, Snap also announced an Apollo 11 experience that’s meant to be educational and partnered with the NBA and WNBA to make an interactive basketball app that NBA and WNBA, Snap is building interactive basketball experiences that use “visual guidance” to help you with drills and practice. I got to try a similar app for soccer, and that was probably the most fun I had in my personal demo with Specs, so I’m optimistic on the basketball side of things.
One thing that I was borderline incredulous about when Snap announced Specs in June was the omission of a Snapchat app, but Snap has addressed that as well. Snap officially announced a Snapchat app specifically designed for Specs that allows you to take pictures and take video calls. One nice touch here is that the gesture to take a picture is just snapping your fingers. Get it? Because Snapchat?
There’s also (of course) something called “Specs Intelligence,” which Snap describes as an “anticipatory AI service,” which works across iPhone, Mac, and Specs AR glasses. The idea here is that you can connect apps and services so that the AI in the Specs glasses can anticipate when help is needed and “surface relevant information and actions” without being prompted. Examples used by Snap include highlighting decisions to make for a meeting or questions to ask; for trips, Snap Intelligence is designed to aggregate flight and hotel information while also pinging you about a work deadline.
Snap was clear that Specs Intelligence can be used without its Specs, but it would prefer that you buy its glasses to use it for obvious reasons. Snap says it doesn’t collect personal content from the apps and services you choose to connect, but there’s an inherent risk with anything that has broad access to your digital life, so do with that information what you will.
Apps weren’t the only thing Snap expanded on, either. It also announced a couple of new hardware integrations, including a charging case that has cellular connectivity, so you don’t have to be connected to Wi-Fi all the time. To provide cell connectivity, Snap partnered with Verizon. You’ll have to pay for a separate data plan to use that, of course. Snap says plans are available for $10 per month for Verizon customers and $20 per month for non-Verizon customers. The case costs extra, too… It’s being sold in a bundle for $2,395, which is $200 more than the regular MSRP.
Specs are available for pre-order now, starting at $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit, which you can place at specs.com. Snap says shipping is expected to start “later this fall,” beginning with the U.S., U.K., and France.
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