Hasta La Gadget!

Google has just announced a slew of new apps that are coming to Google Glass. In an effort to expand Glass’s abilities, a handful of different apps will become available to users, including Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, CNN, Tumblr, and Elle. Previously, only Path and The New York Times were available as apps on Google Glass.

Each of these apps will have their own unique twist in order to seamlessly work for Google Glass. For instance, Twitter will allow users to tweet to their account, and every tweet you send through Glass will be automatically tagged with the #throughglass hashtag. You can also receive notifications for mentions, messages, and replies.

As for the Facebook app, it too will feature so Glass-centric abilities, including the ability to take and upload a photo using Glass straight to your Timeline, and even add a description to the photo using Glass’s voice dictation feature. Tumblr will also let you do the same thing, by posting a photo to your blog right through Glass.

Evernote’s Glass app focuses on two main actions that you can perform. You’ll be able to take a photo or video and send it to your Evernote account from Google Glass. You’ll also be able to choose specific notes from your Evernote account and send them directly to Glass, so that you can bring it up on the HUD when needed. A great example of this is a grocery shopping list — no having to fish your phone out of your pocket to see what the grab next off the shelves.

CNN’s app is a little self-explanatory, but it goes a little further than just being able to swipe through headlines. You’ll be able to pick the types of alerts you want, such as sports scores or breaking news at certain times. You can also have articles be read aloud to you, as well as the ability to watch video.

Of course, it’ll be a while before Google Glass will be in the hands of the mainstream public, but it’s nice to know that Google is already building up a repertoire of apps that people will be able to take advantage of right away.

VIA: The New York Times

Google Glass getting apps for Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, CNN and more is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Announcing a product during a major event like Google I/O takes some real courage, especially when you’re revealing a device that’s extremely similar to a product Google is headlining with. That’s what Recon is doing with the Jet, a wearable device that’s drawn instant comparisons to Google Glass. This device works with a virtual widescreen display that sits below the left eye of the wearer and utilizes Android as a basis for its user interface.

Recon Jet is not in a place where it’s able to be sold at the moment – the version we’re having a peek at here at the Google developer event is a pre-production item – but once it’s ready, it’ll be largely the same as what we’re seeing on the inside. Inside this device works with a dual-core mobile processor (the name of which we’re not allowed to speak of quite yet) powering Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with a custom Recon-made user interface over the top.

You’ll control this machine with a miniature touch-sensitive optical pad that sits on the side of the device near the display. Touching this pad as well as swiping left and right, up and down will allow you access to the device’s abilities and settings.

Inside you’ll be working with GPS, wi-fi connectivity for web, Bluetooth 4.0, and ANT+. With ANT+ you’ll be able to connect to a variety of other sports sensors – this device is, after all, made for hardcore sporting enthusiasts, after all. All of this connects to an HD camera the megapixels of which are not yet available as well.

You’ll be working with “gaze detection” for instant access to the machine’s abilities, its display turning off and on when you want or do not want to work with it. Your eyes will decide.

Have a peek at our brief adventure with this device and note that the main aim of revealing this device this week is to find developers that want to work with the SDK for the device in advance of its final release. This machine will be released to the public before the end of the year – we’ve confirmed this specifically once again in-person with Recon – making its appearance fall well before Google Glass hits the streets in a consumer edition. Pricing and release dates will be coming soon.

Recon Jet hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s day zero at Google I/O 2013, the company’s developer event made for and by developer groups and Google to strengthen their world of software, services, and everything in-between. SlashGear has gotten the opportunity to step behind-the-scenes at this event on registration day – that is, the day before everything begins. Here we’ll begin to explore what’s actually at the event with the hard evidence that only comes from on-site investigation right in the midst of the big setup.

The Moscone Center once again plays host to Google I/O with an experience on the first of three floors that’s quite similar to 2012. This year attendees are given their official badges and T-shirts in a center console where Google employees are charged with scanning QR-codes and making sure everyone is who they say they are.

A massive Google I/O sign rests against the main wall of the center with a color-changing I and O, cycling through blues and pinks in a comforting haze. We’re wondering where these massive 3D letters go once the week is over – perhaps a special giveaway on a letter-by-letter basis?

The ground level also holds a pop-up Google Store where attendees can purchase various Google-branded oddities. Bags, clothing, cases, and toys are in effect. This store encourages – as it did in 2012 – users to utilize their Google Wallet to purchase the goods.

On the second floor (or first floor, if you’re German), you’ll find a massive Google+ presence where users are encouraged to sign-in with the social network. A deck with Office Hours is set up for developers to learn how they might integrate Google+ into their own software. This area has a series of live hang-out portals which we’re sure will be popping up this week.

This level is dedicated to several Google services and Google partners, each of them set up to present to any developer – or press member, or anyone else in attendance – that wishes to learn more.

BONUS FIND: here you’ll see an unopened box of special-edition Android collectable figures from Dead Zebra. We promise we didn’t peek!

Google Glass has its own section on level 2, users able to have a peek at the current iteration of the device as well as participate in talks on the future of the device. We’re expecting more information on the future of the headset in the main keynote address in the morning as well as in more than one chat later in the week.

You’ll find Glass being set aside in a massive section all its own on this level, mind you, while items like Google Maps are part of a series of towers up the center of the room. The amount of space Glass gets here says a lot about how important the device is to the company.

Up on the top level of the center, Google has made a massive show of both Android and Chrome. To one side, attendees are greeted by flying Androids and their floor-bound kin in a display not unlike what we saw at Mobile World Congress 2012 and 2011. It seems that this location has become the heart of the Android press event presentation – and perhaps rightfully so.

Turn around 360 degrees and you’ll find a fabulous display – not yet turned on, as it were – of Chrome. One setup shows the highest-end Chrome OS hardware to date in an array that’ll certainly be a sight to behold once it’s turned on.

Three large semi-transparent displays show Chrome in an impressive display that’ll certainly play host to some shows of power for both the web browser and the operating system.

Androids large and small – but mostly large – litter the top level in both complete and nearly complete states. A massive pair of black-framed glasses remain wet with paint less than a day before the main event is set to begin. An eye-bursting array of pink and blue squares blasts in a checkerboard grid above the fray. It’s here that the fun will begin soon – and very soon.

Have a peek at SlashGear’s Google I/O tag portal for more information on this array of Google action taking place Wednesday the 15th of May, 2013, till Friday. If you’re pumped up about any specific session or event, send us a note – we’d be glad to have a peek at it and report back to you, our valued readers!

Pay close attention starting tomorrow morning at 8AM PST in-particular – the big keynote event will be covered piece-by-piece right here on SlashGear!

BONUS: We’re on-site with and through Glass as well. Have a peek at a couple videos filmed by Vincent Nguyen with Google’s headset here and let us know what you think of the method and the quality.

Above you’ll find a general layout look at the first level of Google I/O 2013 and below you’ll hear a bit of information from the BBC’s own Rory Cellan-Jones. He’ll let you know exactly what he thinks about the gadget world and how important Glass is to it – stay tuned – #throughglass!

Google I/O 2013 behind-the-scenes preview tour: we’re here! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If there’s one thing people keep asking from Google Glass and other augmented reality headsets, it’s facial-recognition to bypass those “who am I talking to again?” moments. The first implementation of something along those lines for Google’s wearable has been revealed, MedRef for Glass, a hospital management app by NeatoCode Techniques which can attach patient photos to individual health records and then later recognize them based on face-matching.

Cooked up at a medical hackathon, the app is still in its early stages, though it does show how a wearable computer like Glass could be integrated into a doctor or nurse’s workflow. MedRef allows the wearer to make verbal notes and then recall them, as well as add photos of the patient and other documents to their records, all without using your hands.

However, it’s the facial-recognition which is arguably the most interesting part of the app. All the processing is done in the cloud, with the current demo using the Betaface API: first, Glass is loaded up with photos of the patient, and then a new photo is compared to the “facial ID” those source shots produce with the matching tech giving a percentage likelihood of it being the same person.

MedRef for Glass video demo:

There are still some rough edges to be worked on, admittedly. In the demo above, for instance, even with just two individuals known to Glass, the face-recognition system can only give a 55-percent probability that it has matched a person. Any commercial implementation would also need to be able to see past bruising or surgery scars, which could be commonplace in a hospital, and evolving over the course of a patient’s stay.

Currently, the MedRef app data is limited to a single Glass. Far more useful, though, would be the planned group access, which would allow, say, multiple surgery staff or a group of doctors to more readily find notes for patients they might not have previously seen. Meanwhile, the form-factor of Glass would leave both hands free, something we’ve seen other wearables companies attempt, such as the HC1 running Paramedic Pro.

Nonetheless it’s an ambitious concept, and one which could come on in leaps and bounds as cloud-processing of face-matching gets more capable. “In the future,” NeatoCode suggests, “on more powerful hardware and APIs, facial recognition could even be written to run all the time.” That could mean an end to awkward moments at conferences and parties where someone remembers your name but you can’t recall theirs.

There’s more detail at the MedRef project page, and the code has been released as an open-source project on GitHub.

SOURCE: SelfScreens

MedRef for Glass adds face-recognition to Google’s wearable is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google Glass isn’t solely about photography, but that’s inevitably the first thing you try out – and the first thing you demonstrate to people when they inevitably ask you questions. Right now there seem to be two approaches to wearables like Glass, either aiming to make the headset blend in, and not cause waves by avoiding being noticed in the first place, or by facing the privacy and photography concerns people have face-on, and opening up a dialog about how bodyworn tech is going to change things. Maybe the fact I picked Google’s tangerine-finish Glass Explorer Edition is an indicator, but I’m all for challenging the status-quo rather than hoping it will merely blend in.

I picked up Glass a little less than a week ago, and it’s already become a must-grab gadget when I leave the house. A big part of that is how closely it weaves multimedia into your daily life, not just in how you record them, but how you can then instantly share them in a way that doesn’t take you away from the moment.

The quality of the footage Glass produces is actually pretty good. The camera snaps stills at 5-megapixels and up to 720p HD video, and while low-light performance pales in comparison to the more adept smartphones, it’s still good enough to make our your subject in the resulting clip. What takes more getting used to is the actual process of filming clips, which only serves to highlight quite how much movement we make without realizing it.

Usually, with a smartphone camera, we’re pretty adept at keeping it still during filming. When the camera is mounted on your head, though, you suddenly realize that we seldom keep our heads still, nodding and turning around and generally doing things completely at odds with capturing a stable clip. It also took a little time before I learned to plan movements with my eyes before turning my head: otherwise, you dash the frame all around. That also means no nodding when in conversations with people, no looking off to the side to make sure the dog hasn’t run off, and no glancing down at your watch unless you want everybody to look at it too.

If there are compromises to be made, though, then there are advantages to Glass-style filming too. The ability to go hands-free when you’re playing with your kids, or to quickly snap off a photo when a friend is doing something goofy, without having to dig into your pocket first and unlock your phone. It’s also surprisingly useful for documenting things as you do them, from the user’s eye view. Okay, not everybody is going to be running through opening up and applying a screen protector, like I did with Glass and this Galaxy S 4 kit, but giving remote tech support to a distant relative, or sitting in as someone shows you their favorite recipe, or piggy-backing into a meeting when you can’t be there in person.

What would make Glass better? I can’t help but imagine what an UltraPixel sensor as in HTC’s One could do for low-light shots. In fact, HTC’s Zoe system, pulling together a brief video clip (3.5s versus Glass’ default 10s) and a cluster of stills, seems like an ideal match for a wearable like Glass. That way you’d have more likelihood of picking out the best-framed image of the bunch, and with fewer headaches about low-light conditions.

That HTC also manages to fit in optical image stabilization is also tempting, since that might help iron out some of the judders we can’t help but make when wearing Glass. Most of all, though, I’d like to see more battery life: right now, with mixed use, I’m seeing around four hours before Glass is demanding I plug it in, though it’s worth pointing out that it does recharge relatively quickly.

I’m also excited about the camera potential when Glass spreads. Right now, it’s a one-way thing, since most people don’t have Explorer Edition units yet. But, when that changes – and I do believe it will, despite the Glass naysayers – it’ll mean we can effectively split ourselves between multiple places, switching between physical and virtual presence as we jump in and out of other Glass-wearers’ headsets.

Still, as I said, there’s more to Glass than its camera. Next up I’ll be looking at the practicalities of slinging an Android computer to your head, and whether wearable tech really does offer more than just a capable smartphone. Meanwhile, if you have any Glass questions, ask them in the comments!

Google Glass: Sample shots

Google Glass in action: the wearable camera is written by Vincent Nguyen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.