There is a new member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group and its none other than the social media network, Snapchat. There have been rumors that the company has been working on a wearable hardware augmented reality device which would clearly increase its reach in the hardware department.
Snapchat is rumored to be working on a pair of augmented reality goggles according to several newspapers including the Financial Times. The app for the company is already involved in the mixed reality platform, making use of its advanced mapping facial technology which they have been using to change a person’s appearance and in turn bringing out funny selfies in real time.
Apple has been serving on the Board of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group since 2011, therefore it has a say on most of the things happening with the wireless technology and in its future. Other members of the board and also high-profile include but not limited to Google, Microsoft, Intel and Facebook.
The membership of the group is required especially of a company intends to use the low power wireless technology in their future endeavors. Therefore the new membership plan by Snapchat indicates that the company might be looking at debuting its own hardware.
They have made a considerable number of hires from the consumer electronics space which have all gone to fuel the speculation surrounding the new hardware move. There hasn’t been a timeframe however given on when Snapchat would release the hardware if they were working on one. Evan Spiegel, the Snapchat CEO has however been noticed in public wearing camera equipped sunglasses which prompted people into making suggestions.
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group recently announced a new next-generation Bluetooth 5 Spec which has four times the speed compared to the predecessor. The new next-gen Bluetooth 5 Spec will also have twice the range than the standard protocol which has been working now, the Bluetooth 4.2.
Bluetooth has been a pivotal player in the way that Apple’s products mix and mingle especially for services such AirDrop and Continuity. Apple is a Promoter Member of the group and is also in a position of an engineer sitting on the board, therefore, they will always have the first option on the latest technology, and also adopt the first revisions.
There have been rumors that Apple has been working on a Snapchat rival that users could use to edit and send videos to their friends. The service is also said to be planned to be released in 2017.
