What comes after Spectacles for the “camera company”? Snap has explored 360 cameras as a future product, according to three sources familiar with the matter…
What comes after Spectacles for the “camera company”? Snap has explored 360 cameras as a future product, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Snap brought in a camera developer with expertise in 360 cameras and stereoscopic cameras to pitch the company potential hardware options.
Snap’s investigation into 360 cameras is still in early phases and it’s not certain it will release a product in the space, sources confirm. Snap declined to comment for this story.
Selling a Snap-branded 360 camera could inject a new content format into Snapchat similar to how Spectacles delivered first-person, circular video, plus offer a new direct revenue stream.
Snap has previously met with startups with the implication that it might acquire them, when in reality it’s goal has been to gather information about new markets and technologies where it could compete, according to one source familiar with Snap’s M&A procedures.
In some cases, it has made acquisitions after these meetings. But in other cases, “they talked to a bunch of people and got them to tell them a bunch of stuff. Snap shows a little bit of leg and tries to be flirty to see what they can get” the source said.
For example, late last year TechCrunch learned Snap had met with selfie drone startup Lily, but no deal came of it. Those talks were later reported by Business Insider , and Lily eventually shut down. Yesterday the New York Times reported that Snap “worked on” a drone, which a TechCrunch source confirmed, but it’s unclear whether it will eventually release a product in this space.
