Square‘s Jack Dorsey is keen on wearables but cautious on Glass, arguing smart glasses aren’t likely to offer legitimate value to wearers for another decade or so. “Glasses are very compelling and I think it’s an amazing technology” Dorsey told the NYTimes, “but I just can’t imagine my mom wearing them right now. What is the value of Glass?”
While augmented reality wearables like Google’s headset are technically impressive, Dorsey expects more mundane examples of body-worn gadgetry to do better in the mass market. Part of that, the mobile payments service founder suggests, is due to the fact that tech you wear on your wrist can be associated more readily with geek-jewelry.
“I think the movement you see around Fitbit, Up and FuelBand, that seems to be the next step in wearable” he argued. “So something on the wrist that feels natural, almost feels a bit like jewelry.”
Some have taken Dorsey’s apparent affection for smartwatch-style tech as an indicator that Square will explore an app for such gadgets, potentially allowing for payments to be made without having to pull your phone out of your pocket. Square is best known for the credit card swipe dongles that plug into iPhones and iPads; however, the company has also been exploring other, less traditional methods of customer recognition, including geofenced apps that flash up the user’s face on the cashier’s terminal, allowing them to be recognized in a more passive manner.
For Glass to fit into daily use, Dorsey suggests, the technology will need to assimilate more readily, as well as potentially give the market time to come to terms with a computer on your face. “I think it might be a 10-year answer, but not in the next five years” he concludes. “Maybe if they’re in sunglasses or what not.”
Efforts to hack Google’s Glass have already seen unofficial Android apps running on the wearable, as Explorer Edition early-adopters get to work tweaking and modifying the headset. Google recently released the kernel source for Glass, but Mike DiGiovanni already has regular Android software up and running, as per this blurry screenshot through the compact lens block.
Google had always been clear that Glass was Android-based, but it was uncertain how much the OS had been modified in order to rework it for wearables duty. In fact, DiGiovanni discovered, “pretty much nothing has been stripped out” and the Glass functionality is simply slapped on top of the core platform.
That opens the door for modifications outside of what Google expects through its official Mirror API, the cloud-based system that funnels apps and services through to Glass as a display of sorts. Regular APKs can be loaded on the Android wearable itself, but if services want to take advantage of the inherent advantages of Glass that Google has on offer, they have to operate within the company’s relatively strict guidelines.
When a native Android app is side-loaded, meanwhile, the regular Android theme shows itself, complete with the usual drop-down notification bar. The touchpad on the side of the headset works for navigation, going left and right through the interface with side-swipes, and back with a downward swipe, just as per Glass’ own UI cards.
What remains to be seen is how the battery of the headset holds up when running native code. One of Google’s aims by treating Glass’ display as a window on the cloud is apparently to minimize just how much processing the device needs to do: that prolongs battery life. As we’ve already seen from other early reports, heavier use of the local hardware – such as when recording video clips – quickly takes its toll on runtime.
Still, the Explorer Edition is intended to be just that: an early iteration of the gadget for developers to pick apart, and Google undoubtedly expected just this sort of tinkering to take place. That should mean a far better product for the consumer market by the time the mainstream Glass edition arrives, tentatively predicted to drop in 2014.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has joined the board of portable gadget specialist Jawbone – known for its UP fitness monitor, headsets, and speakers – it’s reported, reigniting chatter that the search company might look to leveraging wearables along the lines of Google’s Glass. Mayer had apparently been in talks with Jawbone about a director’s position prior to joining Yahoo back in July 2012, so AllThingsD reports, and has already attended at least one board meeting sources at the company claim.
Mayer’s roles while at Google, where she climbed to the position of Vice President of Local, Maps, and Location Services before leaving to join Yahoo, included work on product design, usability, and engineering. That is likely to be a large part of her appeal to Jawbone, a privately-owned company which has raised more than $200m from venture capitalists and other firms.
However, Jawbone itself – and the company’s existing footprint in wearable technology, most recently the UP fitness monitoring band, but also including a range of Bluetooth headsets with voice-activated controls and limited app support – is likely to have been particularly appealing to Yahoo. The company has made it known that it is looking to raise its game in mobile, initially with redesigned smartphone apps for weather and email.
However, Yahoo’s senior director of product management, mobile communications, Lee Parry, also confirmed that the company was looking at the growing wearables market. “It would be crazy not to be looking at Google Glass or Apple’s watch” he conceded in an interview back in April 2013.
Whether Yahoo will aim quite so high as Google’s head-mounted computer is unclear, though the wearables market itself is predicted to surge with more simplistic gadgets – like UP – initially driving demand. However, increasingly complex devices such as wearable displays are tipped to play an increasing role in the market, as prices fall, capabilities increase, and battery life extends.
It’s likely early-days for any sort of Yahoo Glass rival, but there’s plenty of scope for Mayer to help guide the company through the growing marketplace, as well as ensure Yahoo itself gets a foot in the door. Neither Jawbone nor Yahoo have commented on the leak.
Google’s Glass may be sleekly comfortable enough to wear all day long, but the battery may well not be, with users taking advantage of the headset’s potential for impromptu photography finding it chews through power at a rate of knots. Real-world trials of Glass by early user Robert Scoble suggest video recording with the headset’s integrated camera could drain the battery completely in as little as 30 minutes.
Scoble, who was one of the first outside of Google to receive a Glass Explorer Edition headset, revealed his runtime figures during a Quora conversation about the Mirror API and its current limitations. Google has previously suggested the battery will last all day, but that appears to assume you’re not making heavy use of the 5-megapixel camera.
“The battery life is a real problem too. One six-minute video I did took 20% of the battery” Scoble wrote, responding to complaints that Glass was more like a wearable display to show Twitter-like cards, rather than a mobile computer in its own right. “So, Google designed these to have a very simplistic UI, cards, and have them on screen for just a few seconds, to save battery.”
Balancing battery life and bulk is a universal challenge for mobile device manufacturers, and the fact that users wear Glass on their face – where any excess weight would be more readily noticed – makes it even more important that the headset shaves bulk to a minimum. However, the flip side of that is ensuring that Glass is functional for long enough that users consider it worth charging and wearing in the first place.
As one GlassWare designer pointed out after Scoble’s comments, Google is clear that the Explorer Edition is not ready for the mass market. The eventual consumer model – not due to arrive until 2014, according to Google’s Eric Schmidt – will likely sport longer runtimes, in addition to greater functionality that has been educated by what developers cook up in the intervening twelve months.
Neuromancer author and arguably the father of wearable tech in fiction William Gibson finally met up with Google Glass at the weekend, donning the headset and finding – to his frustration – himself left intrigued by it. Gibson – whose 1984 novel coined the term “cyberspace” as well as kickstarted the cyberpunk genre – got to try out Google’s developer-version of the wearable at an event at the New York Public Library, after one member of the audience brought along their new unit.
As fitting meetings go, the intersection of Gibson and Glass is a hugely appropriate one. In Neuromancer, Gibson described a wearable display embedded in eye-lenses fused to central character Molly Millions, and through which a cyberspace-immersed hacker could communicate through text messages.
Although former MIT researcher Steven Mann is best known for translating augmented and mediated reality concepts to real-world hardware, having spent several decades refining his wearable techn, Gibson’s role in describing “the dystopian future in which humans are augmented with computer implants,” as MIT described it, makes him equally important. However, Gibson is also known for being only tangentially interested in technology, a fact which apparently led to some consternation after he had a chance to wear Glass.
“I also got to try Google Glass, if only for a few seconds” Gibson tweeted after the event. “Was faintly annoyed at just how interesting I found the experience.” Asked how well it worked, Gibson commented that the “focal-point tech was impressive.”
The headset itself was brought to the NYPL by Dow Jones consumer technology head Erin Sparling, who was himself surprised that he was the first to help Gibson experience Glass. The Explorer Edition began shipping earlier this month to those who put down $1,500 at Google I/O last year, though Google chairman Eric Schmidt has said that it is likely to be 2014 before a consumer version hits shelves.
[via BoingBoing; Image used by permission of Joe Kendall]
Where’s the fun in owning an exercise tracker like the Nike+ FuelBand if you can’t lord your healthiness over others? Nike must have wondered the same thing, as it just updated the FuelBand’s iOS app to add Nike+ Friends. Wearers can now learn where their step count places them relative to their peers and share the results for all to see. Should there be any doubters, owners can attach photos, locations and mentions of nearby friends to back up their boasting. Yes, it’s an upgrade that’s primarily focused on oneupmanship, but it’s good in our book if it makes us walk just a bit further each day.
Google Glass will spur an evolution in social etiquette, Google chair Eric Schmidt has predicted, though he argues users of the wearable have a responsibility to “behave appropriately” as well. The augmented reality headset has already been preemptively banned from bars, casinos, and other locations, over concerns that users might film their fellow patrons; however, Schmidt pointed out to BBC Radio 4, it’s also down to individuals to use Glass responsibly.
“The fact of the matter is that we’ll have to develop some new social etiquette” Schmidt suggested. “It’s obviously not appropriate to wear these glasses in situations where recording is not correct.”
However, while some commentary has suggested that the public should be wary of Google’s “wearable eye” recording them, as Glass becomes popular and more widespread, Schmidt refuses to take full responsibility for the potential privacy issues. “Companies like Google have a very important responsibility to keep your information safe” the executive chairman concedes, “but you have a responsibility as well which is to understand what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and behave appropriately and also keep everything up to date.”
Keeping Glass up to date won’t be an issue, assuming the production version – which Schmidt says will arrive in roughly a year’s time – follows the same terms of service as the Explorer Edition already shipping to developers. One of the conditions Glass users must agree to is to allow the wearable computer to automatically update itself whenever Google pushes out new firmware; in fact, there is apparently no way to manual control the update process.
Similarly, Google will be capable of remotely disabling functionality on Glass units that is deemed unsuitable, such as if an app or service is found to contain malware or be used inappropriately. The headset will periodically check in on a “blacklist” of banned apps, services, and features, and removing any that are mentioned.
Nonetheless Schmidt argues that the same issues as are around Glass and privacy have been encountered for some time; “you have this problem already with phones,” he pointed out. Whether people will treat Glass differently, however, because it’s body-worn rather than handheld – and, as some involved in the project have discovered, is quickly overlooked by those around them – remains to be seen.
This afternoon the folks at TomTom have revealed two GPS sports watches that they say completely re-define what it means to work with a GPS-tracking wrist-bound computer. Witht the TomTom Runner and the TomTom Multi-Sport GPS sport watchs you’ll be working with massive displays, one-button control, and full-screen graphics-based training tools to make your sporty self a futuristic runner in no time!
Both watches work with TomTom’s own Graphical Training Partner. This system allos you to see at-a-glance statistics based around your physical activity – these three bits make up the full nelson for the future of wrist-based sports excellence!
• Race: Race against a personal best or most recent run. Quickly track performance with real-time graphics, to continue to improve run-after-run.
• Goal: Set a distance, time or calorie goal and see progress toward that goal with simple, full-screen graphics and alerts.
• Zone: Set a target for pace or heart-rate (with optional heart-rate monitor) and track progress in a simple full-screen graph throughout a workout.
Both of these watches will be bringing on the heat with a hardware build that’s not to be missed! Both watches come in at 11.5mm thin and are both waterproof and weatherproof – waterproof up to 50 meters/5ATM, that is! You’ll be using a “super-touch display” as well with both scratch and impact-resistant reinforced glass to keep your precious watch safe and fully readable.
You’ll be able to connect with the TomTom MySports website, MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPaks, and of course: MyFitnessPal. You’ll be connecting with Bluetooth to keep your Smart Heart Rate Monitor’s data in-tune with your watches’ understanding of your body, the watch works with QuickGPSFix with both GPS and GLONASS satellite technology for a precise location every time, and you’ve got indoor tracking capabilities as well!
These two watches are extremely similar to one another, but the main bits are there for both – the one-button simple design, the lovely large display, and the release: Summer of 2013! Keep your eye on the TomTom tag portal here on SlashGear to hear more about these watches as they come closer to release time!
BONUS: You’ll also see a Dedicated Bike Mount, Cadence Sensor, Built-in Altimeter, and Swimming Motion Sensor coming out for these watches in the future too! Stay tuned!
This week the Explorer Edition of Google’s Project Glass is being delivered to intrepid developers all across the planet, and the unboxing videos and demonstrations have begun! What you’re about to see is, at first, a single demonstration video filmed from the developer set. As more demonstration videos appear, we’ll be capturing them here on SlashGear one by one!
First you’re going to see Glass capturing a Go Kart Racer in Burlingame, California – straight from the head of the user. This video is captured from Google Glass’ 5 megapixel camera and delivered at a cool 720p – make sure you turn up the quality of the video with the little gear in the lower right-hand corner of the YouTube rectangle. And don’t get too queasy!
The above video was recorded by Matt Abdou – see more hands-on action now!
Google’s Glass device will be delivered to the full set of over 1000 users in the public this week – while many more devices are out there in the wild, we’re certainly not expecting the full limited edition series to be seeing action in the public. You can find a whole lot more information on the Google Glass initiative in our Google Glass tag portal and through the timeline below.
In addition to this, you’ll find our own hands-on action with Google Glass coming up quick! We’ll be kicking around our own set of Glass units when we’re rolling with them in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll be sure to bring you along with us the whole journey long! Make sure you stick with SlashGear for the long haul!
Google’s Glass Explorer Edition headsets will come with a set of usage, tech, and app limitations at odds with the freedom Android developers are used to, including blanket permission to remotely strip out functionality from the wearable computer. Glass, which Google announced had begun shipping in partial numbers from Monday, comes with a new Terms of Sale agreement as part of the setup process, with strict limits on who you can allow to use your headset, and how Google can update it to remove features it may decide are dangerous or simply not in keeping with how it feels the wearable should evolve.
Would-be international developers have already voiced their frustration about Google’s decision to limit availability of the Glass Explorer Edition to those in the US only; even the Glass companion app, freshly released into the Play store, is geo-restricted to those in the US. However, the conditions of use for the developer headset are even stricter than normal:
“Unless otherwise authorized by Google, you may only purchase one Device, and you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your Device to any other person. If you resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person without Google’s authorization, Google reserves the right to deactivate the Device, and neither you nor the unauthorized person using the Device will be entitled to any refund, product support, or product warranty” Google
In short, if Google discovers you’ve tried to sell on your Glass unit, or even allow another developer to borrow it to cook up their own “Glassware” apps, the search giant is within its rights to remotely kill the wearable. It’s unclear how this might affect teams of developers looking to share a single headset while working together on services, though presumably Google will track possible signs of loaning behavior by which Google+ accounts Glass is logged into.
Remotely bricking a Glass unit might be somewhat draconian, but Google has other methods of remote control it can call upon. Glass will periodically check in with one or more update servers for the latest software, with the system automatically upgrading to the newest firmware. That sort of system is familiar from Android phones, of course, but the difference with Glass is that the user will have no control over whether it happens: running Google’s newest version is mandatory.
“From time to time, Glass may check with remote servers (hosted by Google or by third parties) for available updates to both the Glass software and any Glass services you have enabled, including but not limited to bug fixes or enhanced functionality. You agree that such updates will be automatically requested, downloaded, and installed without further notice to you” Google
In a similar way, Google reserves the right to remotely kill any service or feature on a Glass unit that it deems unsuitable, using a blacklist of banned services that the wearable will periodically check for.
“From time to time, Google may discover a Glass service that violates Google developer terms or other legal agreements, laws, regulations or policies. Glass will periodically download a list of such Glass services from Google’s servers. You agree that Google may remotely disable or remove any such Glass service from user systems in its sole discretion” Google
There’s no telling whether Google will be so strict with the commercial version of Glass, set to follow on after developers have got to grips with the Explorer Edition and begun cooking up software for it. However, the nature of the Glass system and the Mirror API that acts as a conduit for content means that users have little choice but to abide by Google’s rules.
That’s because everything passes through the Mirror API, with Google’s servers sitting in-between third-party services and the wearable itself. As SlashGear revealed back in February, Google can use that ‘conduit’ position to effectively place limits on what is displayed on Glass and what can be shared from the headset:
“For third-party developers, integrating with Glass is all about integrating with the Mirror API Google’s servers rely upon. So, if you’re Twitter, you’d use the API to push a card – say, to compose a new tweet, using voice recognition – to the Glass headset via the user’s Google+ account, coded in HTML, with a limited set of functions available on each card to keep things straightforward (say, dictate and tweet). Twitter pushes to Google’s servers, and Google pushes to Glass … As a system, it’s both highly flexible and strictly controlled”
It also means there’s no possibility of inserting adverts or charging for software, two other limits Google has revealed with this new blast of information. Again, the policies could well change by the time the commercial Glass is released, but for the moment any functionality served up for the developer models has to be free and barren of adverts. User data also cannot be sold or shared for advertising purposes.
On the one hand, Google’s stricter controls around Glass make perfect sense with its more tentative approach to wearable functionality. The company has a set of four new “User Interface Guidelines” for instance, which it expects developers to follow when they design for Glass. That includes considerations about not distracting or overloading users with data.
On the flip side, however, there’s a strong contrast between the relative free-for-all of the Android developer scene and the environment – at least initially – for Glass developers. Arguably that’s down to the greater potential for damage in user-experience should Glass apps go rogue: something that might be mildly frustrating on a smartphone could well be considered a deal-breaker on a device intended to be worn throughout the day.
It remains to be seen as to how strict in following its regulations Google will be, and the fact that the company has given itself permission to remotely deactivate Glass units doesn’t necessarily mean it will take advantage of that. Nonetheless, developers will have to be ready to toe the line if they don’t want to run the risk of having an expensive – but non-functional – geek tiara instead of a high-tech wearable computer.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
