While Glass was pretty much a no-show at Google’s I/O keynote, its explorers received a small treat today in the form of an over-the-air update. Software version XE18.3 introduces simplified paring that walks you through connecting Glass to your smartphone via Bluetooth. Hopefully, this will making things easier for people who are new to using Google’s wearable computer. As for you shutterbugs out there, you’ll be treated to a viewfinder that can be activated by saying “show viewfinder.” This much needed feature will display what Glass is seeing, making it much easier to frame pictures and videos.
Update: Google Glass is now available on the Play Store in the UK for £1,000 and is available in black, red, white, charcoal and blue. Google says the device will ship from its warehouse in one or two business days. Glass still carries the Explorer tag and does not appear to be any different than the U.S. variant. You can view Glass on the Play Store here.
Original post: Ahead of Google I/O this week, Google Glass is now listed as being available in the United Kingdom on the Play Store support page. When the Nest Thermostat became available on Google Play, it too was prematurely posted on the Play Store support page for country availability. Should the support page be correct, the UK would be the first country besides the United States in which you can purchase Glass.
After a brief stint of availability last month, Google Glass is once again available to everyone for purchase. A pair will still run you $1500, but you will also get a free set of Titanium Collection frames for free. Unfortuntely, however, Google has limited the availability to the United States only for the time being.
Google announced the availability of Glass today in a post on Google+. The company says that it is looking to move the product towards a “more open beta,” although it will still carry the “Explorer” branding.
Last week we told you we’d be trying out new ways to find Explorers. Well, we weren’t kidding. We learned a lot when we opened our site a few weeks ago, so we’ve decided to move to a more open beta. We’re still in the Explorer Program while we continue to improve our hardware and software, but starting today anyone in the US can buy the Glass Explorer Edition, as long as we have it on hand: google.com/glass
We’re ready to keep meeting new Explorers, and we can’t wait to hear all your experiences and feedback to continue to make Glass even better, ahead of our wider consumer release.
Head over to the Glass Store to grab your pair – and free titanium frames – today. It’s unclear how long Google will be selling Glass to the public, although it looks like as long as it has it in stock, it will be up for sale. Google sold out of several variants when it put Glass up for sale earlier this year, although it presumably has more units this time around.
It looks like Google is allowing anyone to purchase Glass. Normally you’d need to receive an invite to happily spend $1,500 on this futuristic device, but according to a recent post on Reddit (via Engadget), Mount View’s popular wearable is available to anyone willing to pony up the dough.
Now that Google’s Glass Explorer program is open to just about anyone in the U.S. that wants to signup for the $1500 head-mounted computer, we’re bound to see more and more people test the product in new scenarios. Today we get word from a VentureBeat report that The New York City Police Department has invested in a few pairs of the wearable in order to test Glass as a surveillance tool during patrols. Expand Expanding Close
A couple of days after Google started inviting Glass Explorers to upgrade to the second generation model, Google employee Brian Matiash posted photos showing Glass mounted on a pair of prescription glasses – then later removed them. You’d have thought Google of all companies would know you can’t erase things from the Internet …
It appears that the modified Glass unit has a slot in the top into which the glasses are fitted. It looks from the photos like quite a few designs of prescription glasses and sunglasses would be compatible with the unit.
Roll-out of Glass Explorer program is very gradually expanding, with existing Explorers recently invited to buy Glass for a friend after previously being given three invitations to pass on back in September.
If a Glass Explorer friend has been making you jealous while you wait impatiently for your chance to get hold of the gadget, now would be a good time to buy them a drink. Selected Glass Explorers have been given the opportunity to purchase a second headset for a friend in an email from Google, reports Glass Almanac.
Explorers were given the opportunity to invite up to three friends in September, but this is the first time Google has allowed them to actually purchase a second Glass. Explorers will also be given the chance to trade in their own units for the second generation model, but it’s not yet known what – if anything – this will cost.
There’s still no news on when Glass may go on public sale, beyond a widespread assumption that it will be sometime next year.
Engadget reports that some developers who had registered their interest in the Glass Explorers program are now receiving emailed invitations from Google.
Although third-party developers have been able to develop Glass apps using a cloud-based API, this approached imposed limitations on what those apps could do. Google recently removed these limitations by offering developers an SDK, or in this case a GDK (Glass Development Kit), previewed here … Expand Expanding Close
If an existing Google Glass Explorer has sent one of their three invitations to you, the good news is you no longer have to travel to Google’s offices in NY or LA to collect your gadget in person.
For the first round of Explorers, Google had insisted on personal collection so that a member of staff could talk them through the product and assist them with setup. Those accepting invitations now are being offered a 45-minute one-to-one on Google Hangouts … Expand Expanding Close
There are some projects that are so cool they send a little shiver down your spine, and for me this is one of those. It shows OpenGlass testing two Glass projects aimed at visually-impaired users.
Question-Answer allows someone to ask what an object is, receive an answer from Twitter users and then hear that answer spoken. Memento allows a sighted user to teach Glass to recognise objects, and will then tell a visually-impaired user what they are looking at … Expand Expanding Close
As noted by several posts on the Google+ Glass community page (via SearchEngineLand), Google has begun sending emails to Google Glass owners allowing them to invite a friend to the Explorer program. Google has been distributing Glass on an invite only basis up until now (on top of its #IfIhadglass contests), but this marks the first time it is allowing users to invite others into the beta program. You might remember Google used the same invite-a-friend strategy when Gmail first launched. Expand Expanding Close
Google announced today in a post on Google+ that the results from its #ifihadglass contest are in and the winners will be contacted with invitations to the Google Glass Explorer program over the next few days.
We could never have imagined such an enthusiastic response! There were so many creative, diverse, and (sometimes) crazy applications. We’ve certainly learned a lot through this whole process and it’s inspiring to hear how much passion there is for Glass.
Google didn’t mention availability for those who signed up for the $1,500 Explorer Edition at last year’s Google I/O, but we’ll likely hear more on availability for others with invitations going out to contest winners in the near future.
Google noted in today’s post that it currently isn’t offering the Explorer Program to businesses, but it will work “on connecting with businesses in other ways.” Those who received an invitation to the Explorer program will be able to pick up their Glass at one of several events planned for later this year in New York, San Fran, and L.A. Invitations will be announced through @projectglass on Twitter and +Project Glass on Google+.
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