What Snap announced
Snap on 16 September introduced Specs Intelligence, which it calls an anticipatory AI service, and set out prices and timing for Specs, its augmented reality glasses. The assistant runs on iPhone, Mac and Specs, and is meant to learn a user’s goals, priorities, relationships and routines from the apps they choose to connect, then surface information and actions before being asked.
Its features include Corners, for grouping areas of life such as work or family, Goals for tracking what a user wants to achieve, and help preparing for meetings and coordinating travel. An iOS preview is available now to users aged 18 and over in the US without an invitation, and in the preview it connects to Gmail and Google Calendar. Early access on Mac is by invitation through a waitlist.
“Computers should fit into our lives, not the other way around,” said Evan Spiegel, Snap’s co-founder and chief executive.
The privacy terms
Snap says users control what connects to the service, that its staff cannot view or access the personal content people use with it, and that the data will not be used to train AI models or to personalise ads. It says the service combines on-device processing with secure cloud infrastructure.
Specs: price and timing
According to Snap’s newsroom post, Specs cost $2,195, with a refundable $200 deposit, or $2,395 bundled with a charging case that adds cellular connectivity and four extra charges. Data plans cost $10 a month for Verizon customers and $20 for others, and Orange and EE are the partners in France and the UK. Verizon offers 36-month financing.
The glasses ship in the autumn in the US, the UK and France. Snap will open a try-on space at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles on 1 October.
On the glasses, Snap lists translation across 60 languages with captions, navigation with directions overlaid on the view, and hand and voice controls. It says Specs do not use facial recognition to identify people, show an external light when recording, and do not record audio, video or photos continuously.
The bet
TechCrunch framed the launch as Snap trying once again to make the case for expensive smart glasses. Because the assistant also runs on iPhone and Mac, people can use Specs Intelligence without owning the glasses, and Engadget described it as a standalone AI assistant. How many users connect their email and calendars during the preview, and whether more services are added, will show whether the software can carry the glasses.
