It appears that Google Glass is actually coming to the movies relatively soon, despite news that the device has been banned in one of the country’s well-known movie theater chains. In this case, the Hunger Games craze continues between movie releases with a fan-made film called “Mockingjay: Burn”, but interestingly, it could very well be one of the first Hollywood-produced films to include footage both of and from Google’s head-mounted computer. Expand Expanding Close
Google Glass may not have the best reputation in the workplace, but Mountain View is trying to change that. Today, the company announced its first wave of Glass at Work Certified Partners. This daring new brood looking to push Google’s wearable computer into the enterprise market include partners like APX Labs, Augmedix, CrowdOptic, GuidiGO and Wearable Intelligence.
Father’s Day is almost here and as a nice way to celebrate dear old dad, Google has released a new Through Glass video of proud poppas having fun with their offsprings. A sweet gesture for sure, however we also can’t help but wonder if Mountain View might be subliminally telling you to buy the old man some high-tech eyewear. While we probably just tainted this heartwarming moment, watching about 30 seconds of children having a blast with their fathers should probably bring a smile to your face.
From the operating room to the classroom, Glass has been well received by the healthcare industry. So much in fact, that app makers are jumping on the bandwagon to produce Glassware specifically tailored for physicians. Spearheading this effort is Drchrono, an electronic medical records company based in Mountain View California.
Last week, CrowdOptic, a company that makes video streaming software for wearable devices, announced a partnership with UCSF in hopes of improving patient care and physician training. The first set of tests will involve recording surgeries being performed for offsite broadcast (similar to what we’ve seen before), but CrowdOptic’s software goes one step further by letting physicians in the room share videos streams. Today, the company today told 9to5Google that they’re including a new yet-to-be officially announced feature: a quick way to ensure HIPAA compliance.
If you’re among the elite group of people who ponied up $1,500 for Glass, you’ll be glad to know that Google’s popular wearable computer has learned a few new tricks. First off the bat is an upcoming update to MyGlass for Android that will instantly display pictures on your compatible phone as soon as you open the app. To launch the apps’ new filters and editing tools, simply tap a photo. Once finished, you can then export the finished product to your favorite photo sharing app like Facebook, Instagram or VSCO.
It doesn’t come at any surprise, but Alamo Drafthouse — a large American movie theater chain — has decided to implement a company-wide policy banning customers from using Google Glass (via Deadline) once trailers have begun rolling. CEO Tim League just today made the policy official, but he deserves some major respect for the amount of patience he had before making the call on this new technology. Expand Expanding Close
If you can believe it, Google Glass was announced nearly two years ago at Google I/O 2012, becoming available to “Explorers” for the steep price of $1,500. The device didn’t actually ship until nearly a year later, in February 2013, but multiple beta versions of Glass have been in these select few hands since. As for a date when the device would finally go public, Sergey Brin recently said at the Code Conference that Glass would be released this year “plus or minus,” leaving the question as open-ended as ever. Expand Expanding Close
Google Glass continues to receive a lot of press attention, with much of it being in a negative light due to the device’s camera. And this may be the beginning of yet another saga of Glass bannings, as 9to5Google has learned that USAA, provider of home, life, and auto insurance as well as banking for families of military members, has banned Google Glass from being used by its employees. Expand Expanding Close
When engaged in a firefight, soldiers often have t0 break cover to take a shot at a target. This almost always puts them in harm’s way and can possibly result in severe injury or even death. There has to be a better way, right? Precision guided firearm maker TrackingPoint sure seems to think so. The company is currently tinkering with Google Glass and is working on pairing its ShotView mobile app with Mountain View’s wearable.
Google has been releasing updates to Google Glass continuously after the dry spell that occurred before XE 16, and yet another one surfaced on the internet last night. While Google hasn’t officially pushed the new software to Explorers via the device’s over-the-air update mechanism, it does pack at least one interesting feature: ‘Notification glance’ (via Android Police).
A calibration menu for the feature was seen previously in a teardown of the KitKat-bringing XE16 update, but it was at the time completely inactive, did nothing of use, and required a bit of a workaround to activate. Now, in XE17.3, “Notification glance” lets you simply glance at the screen when a notification is received to view it. Sadly, though, the feature only works with notifications, and activating the device normally still requires some neck strain (or a tap of the touch pad).
Notably, this leak most likely means that the update will be hitting Explorers’ devices soon. An OTA download is already live on Google’s servers; it’s only a matter of time before someone at the Mountain View company hits a switch.
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
While on stage at the Code Conference, Google co-founder Sergey Brin talked Google Glass with Re/Code editors Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. When asked about the commercial availability of the product, Brin said that he hopes it will be available to all consumers by the end of the year. He remarked that “Google Glass will be a commercial product this year…plus or minus.” The timeline for Glass has been a bit cloudy since its announcement, but hopefully Google finally follows through this time around.
A new app for Google Glass has been prototyped, which intends to bring the conveniences of online reading — namely, quick definitions and translations — to the offline hard-copy book reading experience. The app is called Reader for Glass (not to be confused with Google Reader), and is being developed by Jacob Funch, a graduate school student working on his master’s thesis … Expand Expanding Close
We’ve seen Glass hit the hardwood, the OR and the campus, so how about the tennis court? Tennis greats Roger Federer and Stefan Edberg recently swung by Google’s offices to check out the company’s new wearable and of course a friendly match ensued. The onscreen action broadcasts from Federer’s eyewear and while it won’t make you a Grand Slam winner, it’ll give you a closer insight of a tennis champ’s perspective of the game.
Glass may now be available to all US adult residents willing to pay the price, but that doesn’t mean that people in other regions aren’t sampling Google’s famous wearable computer. The Dubai police force is currently performing real world testing of the high-tech eyewear, hoping that it will help its officers when dealing with unruly motorists or wanted vehicles.
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.
The video above just landed on the official Google Glass YouTube channel as the latest of Google’s promotional/inspirational videos showing off the video capturing capabilities of Glass. As noted by Google, the video was shot entirely on Glass by students from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts as part of its contribution to Google’s Glass Creative Collective. Expand Expanding Close
We’ve seen several competitors to Google Glass over the past few years, including smart glasses from Vuzix and Epson. The latter of those, in fact, beat Google to the market back in 2012 with its Moverio glasses. Today, Epson has announced its second generation smart glasses, powered by Android.
According to a new report out of TechCrunch, Google is working to add Google Wallet functionality to Glass. Citing a “source close to the company”, the report claims that Google is currently testing the feature internally, but that it hopes to make it public in the near future. Currently, Glass users have to be signed in to a computer on Google’s corporate network in order to install the app on their Glass.
Like many features on Glass, Google Wallet will work almost exclusively with voice commands. Users will be able to simply ask Glass to “Send money”, then have the ability to swipe through the interface a view times and your done. One of the most common uses for this would be the ability to send your share of a dinner bill to a friend, much like with the Google Wallet integration in Gmail.
The fees for using Wallet with Glass will be the same as other services, with Google taking a 2.9 percent fee for all transactions. Google is certainly looking to add more practical use cases to Google Glass, and the ability to pay with Wallet will certainly come in handy for users.
The Google Glass Explorer edition, which usually sells on an invitation-only basis for $1500, comprises parts whose total value is just $79.78, claims Techinsights after a teardown analysis.
The company was careful to add that this is a preliminary estimate which is likely to be revised in the light of more detailed research. Google, quoted in the WSJ, has dismissed the estimate as “absolutely wrong” … Expand Expanding Close
Google has raised the profile of the Field Trip app, which provides a virtual tour guide to help you explore an area, by enabling users to launch it by voice with an “Ok Glass, explore nearby” command. Previously, you had to launch it via the touchpad. Existing users will need to toggle the app to launch it by voice.
Engadget reports that the app has also been updated with content from more publishers.
A little over 200, in fact. Some of the more recent additions include Happy Vermont and Guide to Copenhagen. Yennie Solheim Fuller, a Niantic Labs marketing associate, tells us that they’re constantly scouring the web for hyperlocal content that they can incorporate into the app, with sources that range from Zagat all the way to smaller blogs and community sites. “We want content on tiny towns like Belmont too,” she said, emphasizing that Field Trip won’t just have info about big cities.
While the app first appeared on Android and iOS, developer Niantic Labs said at the time it was launched on Glass that it was “conceived with Glass in mind, but Glass wasn’t ready.”
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.
Google Glass hasn’t always enjoyed the best of public images. There can’t be too many products that have found themselves banned in everywhere from bars to workplaces to cars (that one later reversed), with governments raising privacy concerns and even noted fans wondering whether the product may be doomed.
Forbesstaff writer Jeff Bercovici wondered whether early Glass advocate Robert Scoble was right in accusing Google of having botched the PR. Marketing head Ed Sanders, perhaps predictably, says no.
The backlash is a result of the way Google decided to roll out Glass, he says — but it was a deliberate decision to do it that way, with a limited public beta surrounded by a nimbus of hype and curiosity. “Yes, it was an unusual step of doing it so exposed, and risks come with that,” he says. “We knew there would be downsides, but we also knew and know there would be tremendous upside” …
