Google Glass has been on the downtrend as of late, but there are still many groups who believe in the product enough to keep developing for it. One of those groups is UK grocer and general retailer Tesco, which has today released its Google Glass shopping app—six months after the company first released a video demoing what the app would be like. While the company has had a prototype working for a while now, Tesco now says that its shopping app is ready for prime time.
Healthcare seems to be one area in which Google Glass is just irresistibly great. Doctors, after all, aren’t unfamiliar with wearable tech to help them with their job; they already wear stethoscopes on a daily basis. Adding Glass to the mix brings new possibilities for more efficient patient care as well as a better work day for doctors, and Augmedix—one of the first Glass at Work partners—knows more about using Glass in medicine than any other company. Today, Augmedix announced that they’ve scored another $16 million in Series A funding.
Google Glass may seem to be fading into obscurity, but—especially with recent rumors that it may soon be getting a reboot—I don’t think we should discredit the platform and assume it has been a failed experiment just yet. In fact, Google seems to be focusing on the workplace use cases of the device, as do many of its developers, and today we’ve learned that the people behind one of the most popular pieces of Glassware—LynxFit—are joining one of the “Glass at Work” certified partners: APX Labs.
Pandora Internet Radio is the latest service to bring its product over to the Google Glass world. The music streaming service’s Glassware app came out of their Hack-a-thon from earlier in the spring, Pandora says, and was good enough to share with Google and ship.
The Pandora Radio app for Google Glass gives users access to stations with the ability to control them with voice commands or the touchpad. Pandora says the voice commands allow you to select existing stations or even create new stations. Actions including music controls like play and pause require using the touchpad; favoriting and dismissing a track also requires using the touchpad for now.
A new app has appeared in the official Glassware directory today, bringing you the ability to easily view the latest radar information on Google Glass. Whether you’re commuting to work or out for a bike ride, this app available to you in an instant gives you a quick glance at stormy weather in your vicinity.
A Turkish bank by the name of “Garanti” has managed to get its Glass app — not-so-appropriately called “iGaranti” — approved on the official Glassware directory. Interestingly, it managed to do this with Google Glass not even yet being available in the country, and also before any American bank even had an app officially approved. But regardless, it seems to actually be a quite useful app.
As the most populous city in the United States, New York City has a big transportation challenge on its hands. The arrival of the bike sharing system Citi Bike aims to solve that problem, but New Yorkers still need to be able to track down these bikes for the program to be useful. Enter City Ride for Glass, an upcoming app that aims to be a simple and effective way of finding Citi Bikes using Google Glass.
Google today announced a newer, revised version of its Glass headset. According to a post on Google+, the biggest change in hardware comes with what’s under the hood. With this revised version, Google will double the amount of RAM found in Glass to have 2GB on board. This extra RAM “will allow for more Glassware to run in parallel and for each Glassware to start more quickly,” Glass product manager Steve Lee said. “You’ll notice the device generally feels a bit faster and more reliable.”
Getting your Google Glass app into Google’s official app directory is not an easy task, but Google recently introduced six new applications — and this time, there are some bigger names thrown in the mix. Those added recently include Shazam, Goal.com, musiXmatch, Star Chart, The Guardian, and Zombies, Run! and you can get them now on your Glass device.
A new app for Google Glass has been released today, which essentially hopes to turn the head-mounted computer into a Karaoke machine. The real value that this app has — especially considering that Glass is still beta, and $1,5000 — can’t really be quantified at the moment, but there’s no doubt that the idea is intriguing. Expand Expanding Close
The first of these apps is Foursquare, the popular check-in app that allows users to locate and review restaurants, shopping centers, or any other point of interest. Google also debuted TripIt integration, allowing users easily plan their travel itineraries through Glass. The third glassware app revealed today is OpenTable. Using this software, users can now book restaurant reservations right from Glass.
Google announced today that it’s about to bring SMS for iPhone and a new Calendar Glassware to Google Glass users following an update to KitKat and the introduction of new features earlier this month. First up, iPhone users will now be able to receive text messages on Glass but, as Google points out, they “won’t be able to reply from Glass due to some limitations with iOS.” The support for SMS is a feature that Glass users have long had access to when paired to an Android device.
SMS for iPhone – iOS fans, by popular demand you can now get texts from your friends on Glass. Get started by going to your iPhone’s Bluetooth settings and turning on “Show Notifications” for your paired Glass. When you receive a new text message, it will appear as a notification on Glass. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to reply from Glass due to some limitations with iOS. (Android fans, don’t feel left out – you’ve got SMS on Glass already.
You’ll begin receiving notifications as long as the “Show Notifications” option for your paired Glass is selected from Bluetooth settings. Google also announced today that it will release Calendar Glassware available in the MyGlass tab: Expand Expanding Close
Google has released five new mini-games for Glass in the hopes that developers will be inspired to create games for the system. The games include Tennis, Balance, Clay Shooter, Matcher, and Shape Slicer. The games use the built-in sensors, camera, and microphone in Glass to control simple sets of colored shapes.
Balance uses the motion sensors to manipulate a stack of blocks that move with the player’s head. The object is to keep the blocks balanced by keeping your head as steady as possible. Clay Shooter uses voice controls and the various motion sensors to allow players to shoot down simulated clay discs without the need for a trap range. Shape Splitter resembles the popular Half Brick Studios game Fruit Ninja. In the Glassware version, players slice colored shapes by waving their hands in front of the Glass camera.
Google today officially released its latest update for Google Glass, XE12, alongside the news that its MyGlass for iOS app will arriving later this week. The app briefly made an appearance on the App Store today but was quickly removed. The update also includes a number of new features including enhancements to the Google Play music feature it first started rolling out earlier this month, a new screen lock security feature, improved integration with Hangouts and YouTube, and brand new winking gestures.
For those times you might miss a shot, try capturing the moment with a wink. The Wink feature is a exploratory feature that lets you take a picture with a wink. It’s even faster than the camera button or voice action and it even works when the display is off…Wink is a exploratory feature. To use it, you’ll need a device purchased or swapped after October 28th, 2013. If that’s you, give it a shot and tell us what you think in the Explorers Community.
Also new in the update is a new “Listen” action menu for Google Play Music, new YouTube options, the ability to set up a unique pattern as a screen lock much like on Android, and Hangouts Glassware for sending and receiving video calls. Expand Expanding Close
Google announced today that its latest update to Glass (XE10) includes a few new features with the most notable being the addition of Transit directions. Now, Google Glass users paired to Android device will be able to see public transit directions in addition to other related information, like when to change trains for example, on their Glass display:
We have loads of great updates every month, but there’s one we’re particularly jazz hands about — Transit. Explorers who have paired Glass to their Android phones will now have the option to see public transit directions when navigating on Glass. When you get directions and select transit, you’ll be able to see all sorts of helpful info, like where to change trains, how far you have to walk to the bus stop and how long it should take to reach your final destination.
Google has also added the “ability to tap to select links in notifications.” Expand Expanding Close
Following a report late last month claiming that Google was preparing to open up Google Glass to third-party app developers, the company announced today it is opening up a new Glassware Review Process that allows anyone with Glass to submit third-party apps. Apps that are accepted will show up in the MyGlass app and Google is kicking things off with the addition of a handful of apps, including: SportsYapper, Fancy, Mashable, KitchMe and Thuuz.
As of today, you can submit your Glassware for review. Completing the Glassware review process will make your Glassware eligible to show on MyGlass and eligible to receive quota beyond the testing limit.
Today Philips and Accenture announced the creation of a proof-of-concept that uses a Google Glass head-mounted display for performing surgical procedures. The demonstration connects Google Glass to Philips IntelliVue Solutions and proves the concept of seamless transfer of patient vital signs into Google Glass, potentially providing physicians with hands-free access to critical clinical information. Additional ideas:
Accessing a near real-time feed of vital signs in Google Glass;
Calling up images and other patient data by clinicians from anywhere in the hospital;
Accessing a pre-surgery safety checklist;
Giving clinicians the ability to view the patient in the recovery room after surgery;
Conducting live, first-person point-of-view videoconferences with other surgeons or medical personnel; and
Recording surgeries from a first-person point-of-view for training purposes.
According to a new report from Geek.com, Google is preparing an “XE 10” update for Google Glass next month that will officially enable apps from third-party developers. Details in the report are vague, but the site says Google has been working with devs and providing access to sensors, voice commands, and other features that unofficial third-party apps floating around can’t:
Multiple sources have now confirmed to Geek.com that the update offers developers access to the sensors in Glass for use in motion tracking and development. Developers will also be able to create their own voice commands through Glassware, giving the user the ability to launch the app from the “OK Glass” menu if they so choose.
The site says that Google has been working with developers to ensure Glassware apps will be available at launch, and also says Google will have a launch announcement alongside the XE10 update: Expand Expanding Close
Back in May, we reported on a new piece of Glassware that controlled your Nest thermostat via Google Glass, and last month we saw GLASSTESLA, an app that lets you manage your car with Glass. Now home automation company Revolv has taken it a step further. The company has released a teaser video of a new technology developed by their Sr. Engineer that lets you control all sorts of things via Google Glass. Specifically in the video you can see office lights, Philips Hue lights, Yale Lock, and a Sonos player all being controlled with Glass. In addition to simply turning the Hue Lights on and off, the video also shows how you can change the color of the lights. The app can be controlled with either gestures or voice commands.
It’s unclear when or if this technology will be released to the public, as it is simply the “side project” of Revolv’s Sr. Engineer. Expand Expanding Close
Google updated its developer guidelines over the weekend to ban ‘sexually explicit material’ from the Glass ecosystem, something it doesn’t seem to mind on its Android platform:
Sexually Explicit Material: We don’t allow Glassware content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material. Google has a zero-tolerance policy against child pornography. If we become aware of content with child pornography, we will report it to the appropriate authorities and delete the Google Accounts of those involved with the distribution.
This development came as a surprise to MiKandi, the company behind the first pornographic app for Glass, according to Tech Hive:
MiKandi only became aware of the new developer policies after its app was launched. As of press time, they had not been directly contacted by Google. As for whether the updated policies may change the company’s plans, “we’re discussing that right now,” said MiKandi co-founder and Glass porn developer Jesse Adams.
Google decidedly banned facial recognition software from its Glass platform the same day MiKandi’s explicit app was making the rounds in the press, signaling Google’s intent to curate its Glass platform much like Apple curates its App Store on its hardware.
In a Google Plus remark, Google said that it would block all facial recognition apps from Google Glasses
Glass and Facial Recognition
When we started the Explorer Program nearly a year ago our goal was simple: we wanted to make people active participants in shaping the future of this technology ahead of a broader consumer launch. We’ve been listening closely to you, and many have expressed both interest and concern around the possibilities of facial recognition in Glass. As Google has said for several years, we won’t add facial recognition features to our products without having strong privacy protections in place. With that in mind, we won’t be approving any facial recognition Glassware at this time.
Tech blogger Robert Scoble photographed proudly using Google Glass in the shower (<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2318217/Google-Glass-HACKED-transmit-hear--experts-warn-thing-doesnt-know-thoughts.html" target="_blank">dailymail.co.uk</a>)
In an interview with MiKandi Co-founder Jennifer McEwen, we learn that the adult entertainment company is on the brink of debuting the first Glassware with porn in mind:
Obviously, Glass is perfect for shooting POV video, so we’re experimenting with that first. But what’s really interesting about Glass is that it’s not just a hands free camera. It can receive and send data, so there are a lot of interesting interactions that we want to explore.
Being hands-free and hassle-free is a simple but big difference Glass has over other similar devices. It’s so easy and familiar to wear, that from a shooter’s perspective it feels like you’re recording with your own eyes. Because it feels so natural, you can forget about the technology and just be in the moment.
On top of that, with Glass you can share and interact with fans and followers, allowing them intimate access to your experiences. It’s like being John Malkovich where you’re viewing the world through someone else’s eyes.
Adam Bell (@b3ll), a well-known developer for many software platforms, has figured out a way to route all notifications from an iOS device through Google Glass. The implementation, even in its early stage, seems to work quite well. Bell notes that all notifications, such as iMessages and Tweets automatically are shown via the Google Glass interface. Video and more details below:
We were told at I/O that Google would start sending #IfIhadglass invites out after I/O and now we have an announcement.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be slowly rolling out invitations to successful #ifihadglass applicants. If you were one of the successful applicants, please make sure you have+Project Glass in your Circles so we can send you a message.
We’re thrilled to be moving into the next phase of our Explorer Program and we hope to expand in the future. Unfortunately, we aren’t taking any more applications right now, but you can sign up here to stay informed: google.com/glass/start/how-to-get-one
