Snapchat begins online sales of iPhone-connected Spectacles

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.