Hasta La Gadget!

When Google started its Glass-giving spree, it picked out some odd picks. It got so bad that some of those offers got pulled. But you can bet these celebrity winners will get their copies. More »

That $1,500 price tag for Google Glass Explorer Edition? Perhaps it makes a bit more sense considering that US labor will be used to manufacturer it. According to unnamed sources cited by Financial Times, the first run of production-quality Glass headsets will be built in Santa Clara, California. The reason? A lot is riding on the quality of Glass, and it’s likely that Google just wants to keep a close eye on every single prototype that leaves the lab. In fact, it’s not exactly uncommon — the outfit did the same for its ill-fated Nexus Q, and Apple is building some of its iMacs here in the states as well.

It’s also important to note that the initial batch of Glass headsets won’t be high yield, so there’s little reason for Google to look overseas with so few units slated for production. Whether or not the lines in NorCal will continue to hum once these things hit critical mass remains to be seen, but it is interesting that Hon Hai Precision (read: Foxconn) will reportedly manage the facility that cranks ’em out.

Filed under: Wearables, Google

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Via: TechCrunch

Source: Financial Times

Making a Prince Albert’s Rupert’s drop is easy; you just let some molten glass drip into a bucket of water. But the resulting structure is so much more complex than the process that made it. The guys over at SmarterEveryDay took an in-depth look to explain why part of it can’t be destroyed with a hammer, while its other half explodes with the slightest nick. More »

We learned a lot about Google Glass yesterday at SXSW, including a sample of the kinds of apps it will be running when it becomes available to the public. Today on Google+, the Project Glass team let out a bit of rather important hardware info: namely that Glass is compatible with prescription glasses. Turns out that its “design is modular, so you will be able to add frames and lenses that match your prescription,” though the team is still working on the frame design to get it juuust right. The prescription compatibility won’t be ready for the Explorer edition of Glass, but we can expect the frames to officially debut “later this year.”

Filed under: Wearables, Google

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Source: Project Glass [Google+]

Google just took some time at SXSW to show off Google Glass, and it’s pulled back the curtains on some apps that are currently in the works. As it turns out, Page and Co. have been working with the New York Times to build an application. Just ask for some news and Glass will deliver a headline, a byline, an accompanying image and the number of hours since the article in question was posted. What’s more is that users can tap and have the eyewear read the story’s text aloud. The duo are also testing a breaking news feature where notifications regarding fresh stories will appear as they’re published. Gmail also got some time in the limelight with its very own app. An email sender’s image and subject line will appear on the device’s screen, and users can reply by dictating their messages.

Evernote and Skitch received some love from the folks in Mountain View too, with the ability to send images to the services through Glass’ share functionality. Social networking app Path has found its way onto the wearable computing bandwagon as well. Not only do Google’s spectacles receive curated updates from the network — to keep you from being bombarded, of course– but they allow users to add emoticons to a friend’s post and reply with comments. Not impressed? “This is just where we started with a few friends to test the API in its early stage,” says Google Glass developer evangelist Timothy Jordan.

Filed under: Google

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