Google has launched Clips, will be the first standalone camera from the internet giant that takes on the likes of Go Pro. But is its AI camera that chooses when to snap pictures liberating… or creepy?
Google Clips main feature is its abiliity to use machine learning technology to automatically begin recording when notable actions are detected. Those could include a child cracking a smile or a dog entering the frame.
The device has a traditional shutter button but users can also clip the camera onto an object and have Clips automatically record “stable, clear shots” of familiar faces set by the user, the company said.
Each shot lasts seven seconds, and the battery survives about three hours in the smart-capture mode, according to Google.
“We hope Google Clips helps you capture more spontaneous moments in life, without any of the hassle,” Google Clips product manager Juston Payne wrote in a company blog post.
Footage wirelessly downloads through an app for Google, Apple and Samsung smartphones. Video can be stored to an unlimited online storage locker provided by Google, and high-resolution photos can be cut from the clip.
Clips, which Google said is “coming soon,” takes on compact cameras such as GoPro’s Hero5 Session and Snapchats’s Spectacles as each strives to make the process of recording video simpler and more mobile.
GoPro stock closed down 6.3 percent at $10.39. Shares of Snap, which derives revenue mostly from ad sales on its social media app, dropped 0.75 percent to $14.53.
Google Clips will retail at $249, it is comparable to GoPro’s $299 Hero5 Session, which can be controlled by voice for handsfree usage. Snap’s Spectacles, which are sunglasses with a video camera on one corner, records a 10-second video after the press of a button on the frame. They cost $129.
Our view- A product doomed to fail (but the technology will be a game changer)
A camera that chooses to record photos and upload them to a server without you knowing about it sounds like a privacy nightmare waiting to happen. Thuis is why it is likely that Google Clips will be a sales flop- but Google probably know this.
The crucial concept is that AI recording could be the future of social media, and Google Clips is an early prototype that will give the company an edge in the future over the likes of Apple and Facebook. In an increasingly hands-free future, taking a photo is always a barrier to enjoying a monent. Clips removes the need to manually take photos or videos, allowing people to exist in the moment, secure in the knowledge they’ll be able to upload the best bits to Instagram later. Welcome to the new era of ‘lifelogging’.