'Snapbots' appear in European cities to herald arrival of Spectacles

Small queue for yellow, intially misfiring, vending machine in London as Snapchat launches camera sunglasses in Europe

It is shortly after 8am on the South Bank in London, but something has gone a little awry at the cutting edge of technology. In a plaza next to the London Eye, a handful of men in their 30s and 40s are standing around a bright yellow box the size of a vending machine, forlornly pressing its buttons to little effect.

Before long a group of black-clad PR types have erected a yellow tent over the device, behind which an engineer busies himself. "Oh, there's no issue," says one cheerfully, "the Snapbot is just having a little nap. He'll be awake soon."