Google Glass review (Explorer Edition)

Google Glass review Explorer Edition

Stand in a line of people in just about any major metropolitan area in the world and you’ll see the same thing: slouched shoulders and down-turned faces staring glumly at smartphone screens. Some people never look away, completely immersed in whatever is happening in the palm of their hands, while others get stuck in a loop of pulling phones from pockets or purses and popping on the screens for just a moment before putting them away again for just a minute or two.

Smartphones are amazing things, but for those who have become addicted to messaging instant gratification, they are a bit unwieldy. This annoyance gets even worse as these devices grow larger and larger. One approach would be to relax a little and stop feeling so compelled to check for Facebook notifications every 30 seconds. Those fully immersed in the information age, however, will be more inclined to fix the physical inconveniences presented by the problem. A heads-up display seems like a natural fit, and thus we have Google Glass. It’s a headset with a projected display, a camera and a data connection that could revolutionize the mobile device industry. It could also cause a public uproar over privacy concerns. Is the potential worth the risk? Join us after the break to see.

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Tweets sent from ‘Twitter for Glass’ appear, suggest official app in testing

Tweets sent from 'Twitter for Glass' appear, suggest official app in testing

Google has opened its Mirror API for devs while passing out Glass headsets to early adopters — including our own Tim Stevens — and now there’s evidence Twitter is already working up an official app. As TechCrunch points out, developer Jonathan Gottfried noticed images popping up from a “Twitter for Glass” client sporting the same #throughglass hashtag he’d been using on his own TweetGlass project and that Google puts on G+ images shared from the device. The original tweet he pointed out has been deleted, but as he informed AllThingsD, there are several others still live. Most notably, they originate from Googlers working on the Glass project, and ATD astutely mentioned Twitter’s rules prohibit third-party apps from using the company’s name, suggesting this is something developed in-house.

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Source: TechCrunch, AllThingsD, Jonathan Gottfried (Twitter)

Living with Glass, Day Four: Canyon Carving

TKTKTK GLASS

Finally, the flash of newness is wearing off. It’s taken a few days, but the initial novelty of Glass, enjoying wearing it simply because I could wear it, is running thin. The haze of new gadget excitement is clearing and we can truly get down to brass tacks — but that doesn’t mean I’m not having fun. In fact I’ve had the opportunity to take Glass with me to do something very fun indeed: ride a Ducati 848 Streetfighter on some of the most amazing roads in the world.

Even as I did this, a jaunt more focused on gathering some exciting footage than truly evaluating the device, I learned some things — including the fact that a Google Glass headset doesn’t really fit underneath a full-face helmet. Not comfortably, anyway.

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Google releases Glass kernel GPL source, lets developers have at it

While our own Tim Stevens is currently adapting to life with Google Glass, developers are going beyond scratching the surface and actually starting to fiddle with what’s inside. Hot on the heels of Jay Freeman rooting Glass, Google’s throwing devs a bone to by publicly releasing the kernel source. Interestingly, Karthik’s Geek Center spotted info within the file that points to Glass potentially being equipped for NFC support. If you’re up for tinkering, you’ll find the temporary location of the tar.zx file itself at the source link.

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Via: Karthik’s Geek Center

Source: Google

Living with Google Glass, Day Three: Security Checkpoint

You might be inclined to think that airport security is not the best place to wear Google Glass. You’d probably be right, but given the amount that I travel it was pretty-well inevitable that I’d cross through some security checkpoint before the course of this testing would be through.

I’m honored to be part of the XPRIZE Visioneering conference this week, a gathering of incredible minds putting their considerable brainpower behind the creation of competitions to make the world a better place. But, to take part I’d have to get out to California, and that meant yet another long flight across the country — and another trip through the full-body scanner. The question is, how would the folks at airport security react to it?

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Developers gain root access on Google Glass, not yet sure what to do with it

Developers gain root access on Google Glass, not yet sure what to do with it

Access to Google’s Glass headsets is still limited to a lucky few, but that’s more than enough to include several curious coders. Some have had success identifying the hardware contained within, but others are focusing on the software. Cydia founder Jay Freeman posted the above image on Twitter this afternoon to show that he had gained root access on his unit, telling Forbes he relied upon a well-known Android 4.0.4 exploit to take control of its OS. The bad news? He hasn’t been able to use it much yet, since the Explorer edition isn’t quite ready for prescription glasses wearers. For now, the question of whether the same technique will work on eventual retail versions remains unanswered, as well as what it’s actually going to be useful for. Steven Troughton-Smith suggests developers can use it to try out more complicated apps than Google currently allows, including always-on heads-up displays or camera apps. Overcoming any remote deactivation Google may try to enforce or loading your own unauthorized apps are also definite possibilities, though we’re sure others will surface soon.

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Source: Jay Freeman (Twitter), Forbes, 9to5Google

The Daily Roundup for 04.26.2013

DNP The Daily RoundUp

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Google Glass’ vision of the future runs on a 2011 smartphone chip

Google Glass' vision of the future runs on 2011's smartphone chips

Google Glass may represent the future of wearables, but its components are a vestige of the past — 2011, to be exact. That’s according to developer Jay Lee who dug up some interesting Glass tidbits using Android Debug Bridge. Taking to his Google+ page, Lee verified that Google’s smart eyewear currently runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich – a fact CEO Larry Page has apparently fessed up to — incorporates an OMAP 4430 processor running at an unspecified frequency and is paired with about 682MB RAM (out of a likely 1GB), though it’s not clear if this is a dual-core setup. For non-mobile industry historians, this particular Texas Instruments OMAP chipset hasn’t been used since the Droid Bionic and Atrix 2 in 2011, making it relatively ancient by industry standards. So, what other surprises lurk beneath the Glass? We’ll leave those mysteries to our EIC Tim Stevens to suss out in his Glass diaries.

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Via: Ars Technica

Source: Jay Lee (Google+)

Living with Google Glass, Day Two: Around the House

“You look ridiculous.” This was not exactly the reaction I was hoping to receive from my wife the first time she saw me wearing Glass. She was long-since asleep when I arrived late the night before, and so had missed my triumphant, technologically augmented homecoming. I confess Google Glass is a bit odd-looking, but my wife is even more of a hardcore Trekker than I am and I thought somehow this headgear would channel her deep-seated love for bizarre, high-tech facial appendages.

Nope. She wasn’t the least bit impressed. When she tried them later, she came around a bit, but spent more time saying the silicone grippers pinched her nose than reveling in the potential future applications of such technology. You can’t please everybody.

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Google’s Eric Schmidt admits talking to Glass is ‘the weirdest thing’

Google's Eric Schmidt admits talking to Glass is 'the weirdest thing'

We’re still getting to grips with an Explorer edition of Google’s Glass ourselves, but Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has noted that Glass may take some getting used to. Talking to an audience on Thursday at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, he said that alongside the unusual sensation of voice control, people would have to develop new etiquette to deal with the fact that incoming wearables like Google Glass would be able to capture images and access information at whim. “There are obviously places where Google Glasses are inappropriate,” he said, while stifling a cheeky wink.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Source: Reuters