A new version of Snap’s spectacles have been certified by the United States Federal Communications Commission earlier this week, with the Snapchat maker referring to the next generation of its wearable as “Model 002.” The product’s FCC filing is light on details, save for revealing that the device is compatible with the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard which should theoretically allow it to offer faster data transfer rates than the original Spectacles, allowing users to upload their videos to Snapchat in a swifter manner.
The product also lacks a physical label and instead sports a digital one accessible through the Snapchat app, with some industry watchers speculating that change may be indicative of a redesigned frame. While the 2016 Spectacles were available in several color variants, all models featured rather robust frames. If the new product isn’t bulky enough to allow for a physical label to be applied to it, the Venice, Los Angeles-based company may have opted to make its frame thinner. Reports about the Spectacles 2 being in the works have been circulating the industry for several months now even though the firm is said to have mulled over canceling the project last year. The first Spectacles successfully generated significant anticipation throughout the U.S. due to Snap’s artificial scarcity strategy that saw the company only sell its initial batches through pop-up vending machines which would be present at select locations over just a few days before disappearing but once the Spectacles became more widely available in early 2017, the company found itself with hundreds of thousands of units in unsold inventory, sources familiar with the matter claimed last year, having claimed the gadget is “shockingly” underperforming.
Snap is now said to be developing two new versions of the Spectacles, one that’s meant to be an incremental upgrade over the first-generation product and another that’s expected to ship with two cameras and GPS capabilities, with the latter being priced in the ballpark of $300. The first wearable launched with a $130 price tag and is still available for purchase across the world.