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Rumours swirl of Snapchat smartphone

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Image: Snapchat

21 February 2017

Snapchat is increasingly facing competition from the likes of Instagram and its new Stories feature, and with the company in need of something big and new to keep customers engaged talk has turned to the idea of a Snapchat smartphone. But is Snapchat really going to launch a phone?

It has to be said that a Snapchat phone would likely be one of the best selfie phones you could buy. But Snapchat is not a smartphone company; it makes mobile apps and has recently ventured into Snapchat Spectacles, which should be getting a release outside the US later this year with parent company Snap pledging to “significantly broaden the distribution of Spectacles”.

However, there is some evidence to suggest Snapchat has something bigger planned, with several new hardware roles at the company – not all of which are obviously related to Spectacles.

According to Mediakix, “Snap went on a hiring spree for employees in hardware engineering, telecommunications and manufacturing logistics starting in August of 2016. These included electrical, mechanical, prototype, hardware, interactive, RF/antenna, and NPI (New Product Introduction) engineers as well as CMF (colour, metal, finish) designers, industrial designers, and mobile services specialists. Of the 36 new hires since August of 2016, 16 have pervious experience from Motorola, seven from Apple, six from Google, three from HTC, and one each from Verizon and Nokia.”

Having recently rebranded as a camera company, it’s quite possible Snap is actually looking to launch a Snapchat camera rather than a phone – and we think this the more likely outcome. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first social media company to consider a smartphone – the Facebook Phone, aka HTC First, was something of a flop.

Naturally, a Snapchat phone would have to have a great camera, and we might even see a 360-degree camera, as well as a selfie camera. It’s likely a dedicated camera shutter buttons and the ability to scroll through filters with the volume buttons would be included.

IDG News Service

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