Three months ago Google announced the Google Clips, a tiny clip-on camera powered by some impressive machine learning technology. The idea behind it was that rather than require you to choose when to take a photo, you could trust the device to make that decision itself, so parents hoping to capture special moments with their kids don't also have to take themselves out of the moment to do it. And today you can finally order one, though delivery dates are currently set as far out as March.
For more details, you can check out our original (slightly critical) announcement coverage, but the short version is that Google Clips is a clip-on camera that takes photos and clips on your behalf via the magic of machine learning. It has a 130-degree FoV, 16 GB of storage, and records at up to 15 FPS.
Although we've had a couple months to think about Google Clips since it was announced, we're still a bit doubtful of how the new product might be received. Until we have a chance to play with the Google Clips ourselves, we won't know how well they perform, though.
Google does seem to have gone all out with some of the technology involved. It's able to recognize individual faces, automatically capture clips and photos, and it respects your privacy by encrypting everything it records on the device itself before it's even been sent to your phone. There's a lot to like and geek out over.
But, the price is ridiculous. For $250 all you get is a clip-on camera that can only do 7-second motion clips and stills with no sound recording, paired with a mere 3-hour battery life. If it were priced a bit more realistically, we'd probably be bending over backward to rationalize picking one up, even if just as a novelty—as Artem was quick to point out on Google+. But, for the price of a mid-range phone, it's a lot harder to justify.
If you are interested in giving Google Clips a try, you can now make an order for one over on the Google Store. There's even free shipping, but orders placed as of now aren't scheduled to arrive before the beginning of March, so you'll have a bit of a wait ahead of you.
UPDATE: 2018/01/27 1:38pm PST BY
The listing on the Google Store is already back to a waitlist, so either Google burned through all the stock it was expecting, or they've just ceased sales for now. If you didn't get one while orders were being taken, you'll have to wait.
Source: Google Store