Google moved away from its augmented reality (AR) glasses, called Glass, for consumers quite some time ago. Instead, now the company focuses on the enterprise market, which it is boosting with a brand new pair of AR glasses this week.
Following the shut down of the Google Glass Explorer program and the reorganization of the Google Glass team, some theorized Google Glass may be dead. However Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, says the Google Glass technology is too fundamental for Google to end the project.
Nick Bilton of the New York Times is out with a fantastic piece detailing why Google Glass as we know it has been killed off by the Mountain View based company. Born out of the futuristic Google X lab, the headset was not only plagued by problems, but it was receiving attention from the mass-market that Google just wasn't ready for.
Phil Schiller, Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing, didn't have kind words to share when emailed about Google Glass, the search giant's experimental wearable that's about to be mass produced for consumers in 2015.
Google is graduating its Google Glass Explorer program from Google X and making it an actual division under Google, reports Fortune. Google is putting Nest co-founder and CEO Tony Fadell in charge of the Glass division, providing guidance to Ivy Ross who led the project from its experimental birth.
If you're among early adopters who dropped $1,500 for a Google Glass when Google for a single day opened up its Glass Explorer program to everyone, you'll be delighted to learn that your pricey smart googles will soon be able to display notifications for incoming iPhone text messages in your field of vision.
In addition, a new Calendar card will also launch later this week, allowing you to interact with calendar items on your timeline.
Google's recently upgraded its Glass software to Android KitKat, allowing them to "bring you faster updates" so these upcoming goodies are part of the new rapid development and roll-out process...
Google will hold a one day sale on Tuesday, April 15, for anyone who wants to pick up the Explorer edition of Google Glass, the wearable headset that can take photos, beam apps into your eye, and more.
Until now, Google has limited the sale of Google Glass to customers who received an invitation from another Explorer or directly from Google, but starting Tuesday at 6am for 18 year old US customers, it's your chance to finally check out what's going on with this wearable hype. To buy a pair, you must go to the Google Glass website, but don't think they'll come for free...
The Korea Times is reporting that the South Korean conglomerate Samsung is readying its own Google Glass-like eyewear, with an unnamed Samsung official stating that the tentatively named 'Galaxy Glass' device will debut at the annual IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany this September.
Sony is also working on a smart glasses model of its own, by the way.
Samsung already sells the Galaxy Gear smartwatch and we previously reported that a brand new lineup of Galaxy Band health/fitness wearable devices is in the pipeline as well. Google currently sells the Explorer Edition of Glass to testers and developers in the United States for $1,500.
The search giant said that a consumer version would be available some time in 2014 for "significantly less" than the Explorer Edition, but the company wouldn't commit to a specific pricing or release date...
Google's official Glass app for iOS, MyGlass, launched in the App Store on Tuesday only to be pulled a few hours later as it "spilled the beans" too soon. The search giant promised to bring back the app later this week and it's now available for download.
Labeled with version 0.3, the 15.2MB download requires iOS 7 and allows you to configure and manage your pricey $1,500 Glass eyewear from the palm of your hand.
The companion application can be used to set up Glass, get directions on the go, screencast anything you see on Glass to your iPhone, add third-party Glassware applications, contacts and more...
Google's official $1,500 Glass eyewear companion app for the iPhone, MyGlass, has been removed from the App Store shortly after it was released. But hold your horses, this particular app removal has nothing to do with Apple - the Internet giant itself asked the iPhone maker to pull the software because it got posted prematurely to begin with.
The app has “spilled the beans” too soon, Google said, confirming that the MyGlass app will re-surface on the App Store later this week.
Google has also released XE12, the latest Google Glass OS update that adds new apps from The Wall Street Journal and Weather Alerts, including the Upload to YouTube and Hangouts features...
Good news for Google Glass owners in Apple's ecosystem this morning. Google has launched MyGlass, its official companion app for its $1,500 computerized glasses, for iOS that will allow you to configure and manage them from your iPhone.
Use the application to set up Glass, get directions on the go, screencast whatever you see on Glass to your iPhone's display, and add Glassware and contacts. It looks like you can do everything in the iOS version that you can on Android...
Tony Fadell, the brains behind the popular Nest thermostat, used to work at Apple where he'd helped engineer the iPod music player, earning him a nickname of the iPod Godfather. He also led the development of the first eighteen iterations of the original iPhone. In a recent interview, the famous engineer revealed that Apple in the past had experimented with the idea of a virtual reality headset and has actually built a few prototypes of a Google Glass-style device.
"The craziest thing we talked about was something like Google glass," says former Senior VP of iPod division...