C_NCENTRATE #570: Snap AR glasses, Investors mapped, Google's I/O +++
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AR(E) SNAP’S GLASSES…DOA?
Snap’s on a bit of a tear lately. 500M MAUs, 90% reach of 13-24-year-olds in the US, UK, France, and Australia, and the company grew 100%+ YoY for the last 5 quarters in India (more state here). Not bad at all. Facebook still dwarfs them on every platform it has but technology-wise, Snap has been schooling/doing the RnD for the other platforms for years now. Announcing their second foray into AR-enabled glasses went a lot better than Spectacles. Form-factor-wise they’re still an utter disaster, but you have to give the ghost props for not overselling what’s possible and popping a lot of tech into a small space. Will you buy them? No. Will your kids? Maybe. Has the company laid the groundwork for the future of computing? Certainly. Do they last longer than 30-minutes? Not currently. Can you buy them? Also no; they’re just going to AR designers for now. Here’s what the experience will be like:
Tapping the vast potential of @Snap’s AR platform, the next generation of Spectacles allow you to overlay Lenses directly onto the world in front of you, for an immersive AR experience. #SnapPartnerSummit
spectacles.com/?utm_source=tw…
The ROI is not there right now, but this is an early look at a future people are interested in. The ability to buy products you see on others, have additional information displayed to assist you with navigation, meditate amongst other things. The key here is the screens, form can come after the screens have been refined and Snap buy WaveOptics ($500m) is a smart play. The unit has four built-in mics, two stereo speakers and built-in touchpad controls, but - and this is where Amazon will excel - the joy comes when no touch is required.
__ DO __ Expect Apple and Amazon versions to be refined. Snap is simply the first to show their cards. Is this a move to get bought? Possibly, but the team at Snap have said they won’t sell before… // __ DON'T __ Think Apple and Facebook are shaking in their boots after seeing this.
THIS ISSUE OF C_NCENTRATE IS FREE THANKS TO WAYDEV
Waydev helps software engineering leaders gain complete visibility of their teams with a data-driven story of key business initiatives.
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