14 DAY TRIAL // Even since the notorious Sony hacking, journalists have been on a gold rush trying to dig out the juiciest bits.
And here comes an interesting tidbit, which got reported by the Business Insider. According to the leaked documents, popular messaging app Snapchat secretly acquired a company that builds Google Glass-reminiscent eyewear.
Will Snapchat branch out?
The information was spotted in one of the private messages sent out by Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton. The thing is Lynton is also a board member at Snapchat so that’s how information related to the deal was found in his inbox.
Apparently, Snapchat paid a total of $15 / €12 million for Vergence Labs and the terms reveal the company paid $11 / €9 million in cash and $4 / €3 million in stock.
Vergence Labs is currently producing a product called Epiphany Eyewear, which is actually a pretty stylish glass frame that bundles a camera.
The snapper is quite subtly implemented, so you won’t probably notice anything out of the ordinary when taking a quick look at Epiphany.
The frames allow users to start recording at 720p video footage by virtue of pressing a button residing on the side.
However, one can still extract photographs from the footage thanks to a special software developed by the company itself.
Prices for the eyewear ranges between $300 / €243 and $500 / €406 depending on how much storage you opt to have on board (ranging from 8GB to 32GB).
Anyway, the acquisition of Vergence Labs by Snapchat is a pretty kooky affair. Snapchat is a service focusing on sharing of temporary photos and recently of videos. This means that media you transmit to your family and friends shortly disappears into the cold nothingness in a short while after pressing send.
Snapchat might be looking to invent a new way of sharing photos
It’s interesting to try and assume how Snapchat might end up using the Google Glass-like technology. Maybe the company is developing a new way of sharing photographs and video you have just snapped using your cool but creepy glasses.
Or maybe the photo-sharing service is looking to build a series of custom glasses that will arrive with Snapchat pre-installed on it. At this point, the possibilities are endless.
The two companies abstained from saying anything about the deal, neither confirming nor denying it. Anyway, another email revealed that apart from purchasing Vergence Labs, Snapchat also offered it a loan of $2/ €1.6 million.
It’s quite clear that there’s a connection between the two, but what this is exactly we can’t really say at the moment.
So, what do you think the convergence of Snapchat and Vergence Labs will result into?
