Snapchat begins online sales of iPhone-connected Spectacles

Posted:
in iPhone
Snap on Monday launched online sales of the Spectacles, its iPhone- and Android-connected smartglasses, finally expanding beyond its rare vending machines and a pop-up store located in New York City.




A pair of Spectacles costs $129.99, and comes bundled with a charging case and cable. Black, "coral," and teal colors are available, all of which are expected to ship in 2 to 4 weeks. Extra cases are $49.99 each, while cables are $9.99.

Those accessories are being removed from Amazon, TechCrunch noted. Snap has also reportedly shuttered its New York City store, though a spokesperson commented that the vending machines -- known as "Snapbots" -- will continue to appear in various places around the U.S. after a short "nap."

The person added the wider rollout comes in response to "positive" reception of the Specatcles since their November debut. To date expenses have outweighed revenue, but that potentially could change with online availability.

Snap's first hardware is superficially similar to Google Glass, but designed only to shoot between 10 and 30 seconds of first-person video, mostly for use with Snapchat. The video is also recorded in a unique circular format, meaning that people watching a clip in Snapchat get a seamless view regardless of which way they're holding their phone.

To address some of the privacy concerns raised by Glass -- which never made it beyond the developer stage -- the Spectacles display obvious lit rings whenever recording is happening.

iPhone users must have an iPhone 5 or later, running at least iOS 8. Snap cautions that people with an iPhone SE should update to iOS 10 to prevent problems with pairing.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    Weird world we live in if people buy these. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 13
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Weird world we live in if people buy these. 
    I don't even know what snapchat is!
    watto_cobrazohaali146
  • Reply 3 of 13
    Kids will buy them because for some bizarre reason they like Snapchat. Incidentally, the name of the company is Snap, their service is Snapchat.
    Roger_Fingaswatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 13
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    Kids will buy them because for some bizarre reason they like Snapchat. Incidentally, the name of the company is Snap, their service is Snapchat.
    I'm not even sure about that. I have yet to hear an owner of these glasses explain a compelling reason for others to buy them except for the fact that they are hard to acquire. Snap has created a successful product but only through scarcity. Now that they are available online to all, I think we will see the true demand for these camera glasses.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 13
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    How long before stores start banning these?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 13
    polymniapolymnia Posts: 1,080member
    wigby said:
    Kids will buy them because for some bizarre reason they like Snapchat. Incidentally, the name of the company is Snap, their service is Snapchat.
    I'm not even sure about that. I have yet to hear an owner of these glasses explain a compelling reason for others to buy them except for the fact that they are hard to acquire. Snap has created a successful product but only through scarcity. Now that they are available online to all, I think we will see the true demand for these camera glasses.
    Nothing at all like people lining up at Apple stores for the new iPhone for the last 10 years? It's funny a commenter on an Apple-enthusiast site doesn't see the obvious scarcity/hype model at play here. 

    Well done, Snap. 
  • Reply 7 of 13
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    macxpress said:
    How long before stores start banning these?
    Why would stores ban these?
  • Reply 8 of 13
    How long before they get easily hacked to be able to record in secret?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 13
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    Where in the article are the data points that sales have fallen off dramatically? 

    edited February 2017
  • Reply 10 of 13
    jason98 said:
    How long before they get easily hacked to be able to record in secret?
    Let me know when they can be turned into X-Ray Specs.
    jony0
  • Reply 11 of 13
    MacPro said:
    Weird world we live in if people buy these. 
    I don't even know what snapchat is!
    My understanding is that it is a photo sharing app in which the photos are auto deleted after a certain period of time. 
  • Reply 12 of 13
    So I wear glasses. I decided to look into how the designers addressed this possibility with Snap Inc's Spectacles.

    They apparently intend you to wear these monstrous things over your normal glasses.

    ...Yeahhhh...No thanks, Snap.
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