Google’s recently published Google Glass video has been getting the attention of a lot of people, both in and outside of the tech industry. One such person is late-night talk-show host Conan O’Brien, who decided to talk about the upcoming wearable device on his show last night.
In talking about Google Glass, Conan decided to show a follow-up video highlighting a “new product” from Google that takes the device to another part of a person’s body: their backside.
The follow-up video, which is obviously a spoof and in no way reflects a real product, shows just what kind of views you can expect from Google Ass as gawking strangers, sniffing dogs and trips to the bathroom will become much more interesting now that you’ll know what exactly is going on while your head is turned. We just hope Google Ass users decide against sharing their view with others, especially in Google Hangouts.
Google recently gave us a glimpse as to what Google Glass users can expect from their experience with the device once it’s released. The video really impressed us with how easily Google Glass will become integrated with our everyday lives as we’ll be able to take photos, record video and initiate hangouts with very little effort. We’re sure after you watched Google’s video, you shouted at your screen, “WHEN CAN I GET IT AND HOW MUCH SHEKELS WILL IT COST?!?”
Google has confirmed with The Verge today they plan to have a “fully-polished” version of Google Glass available to consumers by the end of 2013. As for how many shekels it will cost you, surprisingly it probably won’t break your bank account as it’ll go on sale for “less than $1,500.” We couldn’t be the only ones to have thought it would cost at least $5,000 for Google Glass, right?
If you would prefer not to wait until Google decides to make Google Glass available to the public to purchase, and you consider yourself a “creative individual,” you can proceed to pre-order the Explorer headset, although know that you’ll need to be approved by the company in order to actually purchase them. In other words, couch potatoes need not apply.
Just a couple of days ago, we got to see what it’s like to wear a pair of Google Glasses, which only strengthens our desire for a pair of our own. However, it seems that Google is planning to have Google Glasses shipped out to consumers by the end of the year that aims to bring a “fully-polished” version of the frames to anyone who wants a pair.
Google has confirmed to The Verge that Google Glasses will be making their way into the mainstream by year’s end, and the company said that a pair will cost “less than” $1,500. We would love to interpret that as maybe just a couple hundred dollars, but we guarantee that users will be paying a lot more for such glasses.
Google’s Sergey Brin said last month that Google Glasses would ship in a few months to developers, but no specific timeline was given. Pre-orders for the glasses began last year at Google I/O for strictly developers. However, it seems that the public will be able to get a hold of a pair before 2014 rolls around.
Google Glasses passed through the FCC earlier this month, and the filing hinted at the addition of bone conduction technology, which will allow users to listen to audio without putting headphones on or in their ears. Instead, special tips that are placed near the temples create vibrations that our ears and brain interpret as music or other audio.
Wearing a computer on your face may sound ridiculous, but according to Conan, Google Glass only marks the first step in the search giant’s ambitions in wearable computing. The real destination? Your ass. More »
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.
While one can be forgiving towards the looks of many personal devices, the same can’t be said for Google‘s Glass, a wearable device that is front and center on one’s face for all to see. To ensure Glass is something users will be okay putting on their face, Google has entered into talks with Warby Parker to develop stylish frames, two sources told The New York Times.
According to the sources, both of whom are unnamed but said to be aware of the situation, say that Google is in negotiations with the company. The Glass frames are without lenses, although the company is reportedly looking into a variety that have tinted lenses for outdoor use. Google is said to have made both the device’s style and its comfort one of its focuses.
Earlier today, Google released a video showing off how Glass will work in a first-person-perspective video, which you can check out here. The device promises to be an ever-present, mostly hands-off supplement to your smartphone, offering a tiny display for your eye only that provides such things as the weather and Google search, as well as the ability to perform functions using voice commands, such as recording video.
Likewise, Google is now running its #ifihadglass campaign, offering more individuals the chance to score a pair of Glass. 8,000 people will be selected to based on a variety of standards, such as the creativity of the idea they submit on how Glass can be used, as well as the social impact they’ll provide by owning one themselves. Each person can submit three applications by Feb. 27, which will be judged by Google.
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.
Google may still be considering what kind of features to highlight for its Project Glass, but judging by a recently released video called “How It Feels [through Glass]” published by Google, we think the company already has some good ideas of what exactly they want the device to do.
The video shows the interaction between the user and Google Glass can be minimal as by default, the device would project a small window at the top-right of the user’s view. Interacting with Google Glass would start with a phrase, which Google chose to make “OK, Glass” in this new demo. (more…)
I admit it, I was getting worried. After the original Project Glass concept video promised far, far more than the wearable could deliver, and then the public tidbits from Googlers pointed to little more than a hands-free camera and the occasional email notification, I started to suspect Google had entirely dropped the ball with Glass. Less wearable computer, and more strap-a-Pebble-to-your-face.
Now there’s nothing wrong with making smartphone notifications more useful or easy to consume: that, after all, is why interest in Pebble and other smartwatches has been so high. Yet the initial promise of Glass had been so much more than that, harnessing the power of Android and ubiquitous connectivity and wearer-attention to augment your daily life in persistent ways a smartphone could never manage.
Okay, so the first promo video was ridiculously far-fetched, but as time went on – and the Google team members lucky enough to have access to Glass prototypes teased us with photos, videos, and sky-dives filmed using the headset – it began to look more like Glass was a camera first rather than a wearable computer. Those fears were compounded after early hands-on reports began to trickle out, with talk of little more than email alerts and other notifications dropping into the corner of your vision.
That seemed, frankly, a waste, and so it’s great to see a more realistic explanation of what Glass will do in Google’s new campaign. The display isn’t just a notification pane, it turns out, but a proper screen (albeit transparent) capable of showing Google search results, color navigation directions, and more.
Google Glass walkthrough:
Best of all, it’s very much a two-way stream of information. Glass isn’t just showing you data and then expecting you to pull out your phone to respond to it, as per most smartwatches we’ve seen, but uses voice commands of impressive complexity to operate. The instruction “OK Glass” apparently wakes the headset up, and then you can ask for Google searches, photographs and video, and even for language translations, with the headset discretely whispering the foreign phrases in your ear.
In fact, there’s little suggestion that the trackpad on the side of Glass plays much part, with Google showing only voice commands to navigate through the modified Android OS. It’s worth noting that the video chops together only the key features, however; the actual transitions between them – jumping back to whatever homescreen Glass has, and stepping through pages of search results, for instance – isn’t shown. That may well demand some touchpad stroking. There’s also the question of whether Glass works with touch controls alone, or if you have to give it vocal instructions: that could undermine discrete use of the headset, in situations when speaking out loud isn’t really acceptable. At least one of the pictures Google has freshly released today shows what appears to be an eye-tracking camera on the inside of the eyepiece.
“This isn’t really augmented reality”
One thing that’s clear already is that this isn’t really “augmented reality“, at least not as we generally conceive of it. Glass doesn’t modify your view of the world, or do any clever floating of glyphs or data around people or objects in your eyeline; it can’t change the way you see things. Instead, it’s more akin to a smartphone that’s been squeezed, extruded, and generally reshaped to fit your face rather than in your pocket: assisting your hunt for digital information, yes, but leaving it up to you as to how it integrates into your life.
Google seems keen to involve more than just developers in the latest round of Glass Explorer Edition presales; whereas only coders had the chance to slap down $1,500 back at Google I/O 2012, this time around the company tells us it’s looking for a more diverse group. In fact, the #ifihadglass campaign doesn’t even require those 8,000 picked to commit to producing their application suggestions. Instead, they’ll be selected on the basis of creativity, the social reach of them having devices (i.e. the scale of the audience they could preach the good Glass message to), and how compelling and original their ideas are.
There’s still plenty to be learned about Glass. Google has teased its cloud-based engine for the headset, but has otherwise said little about the development environment involved, and the biggest concern – battery life – is still conspicuously overlooked anytime the search giant mentions wearables publicly. We also don’t know when the Explorer Edition headsets will be released, though Google tells us that those people who ordered at Google I/O last year are first in line to get their units. Still, the huge amount of “geek” interest bodes well for the commercial launch, whenever that might be, and while Glass may not be the mainstream push for augmented reality we initially expected, the potential is still there to change the way we interact with the world – real, and digital – forever.
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