Google’s head of Google[x] Astro Teller took the stage today at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, to talk about the Mountain View company’s secretive experimental lab and the things that the team has learned over years of showing its ambitious projects to the world (via The Verge). Teller spent a lot of time talking about Google Glass—which is definitely one the better known projects to come out of Google[x]—and how this fame was actually part of where Google failed…

expand full story

Google Glass in its current form has been on the market for going on two years now, and besides a couple of minor hardware iterations, the hardware—and its huge beta-test $1,500 price tag—has stayed much the same. A couple of different patents have surfaced in the past showing what direction the physical design of the device may be headed, but the latest one (via Quartz) seems the most plausible—and does the best job of not straying too far from the current “Explorer Edition.”

expand full story

Since its initial unveiling more than two years ago, one of the biggest questions surrounding Google Glass has been its commercial viability. Reuters today has published a report, yet again questioning the long-term success opportunities of Glass. Sergey Brin, the head of Google’s X Lab which is responsible for Glass, was seen this weekend in public not wearing a pair. The Google executive remarked that he had left his pair in the car when asked by a reporter.

expand full story

Chardan Capital Markets analyst Jay Srivatsa believes that a combination of two Google investment decisions could signal that the company is planning to take “a different direction” with Google Glass, reports StreetInsider.

Srivatsa noted that Google had decided against further investment in Himax, a company specialising in controllers for conventional head-mounted micro-displays, at the same time as investing in virtual reality startup Magic Leap …  expand full story

Glass may be getting closer to being a full-blown consumer product, according to a few changes to the product’s terms of sale. Although the search giant recently made its high-tech eyewear available to the public, it’s widely referred to as still in beta. About a week ago, Google revamped its sales terms for Glass, adding an updated “Prices and Taxes” section.

expand full story

Google X director and former head of Google Glass Babak Parviz said at the Wearable Technologies Conference that the company’s product is “one answer” but “not necessarily the definitive answer,” reports CNET.

Parviz, who last month stepped aside from leading the Glass team in favor of the more fashion-focused Ivy Ross, described the product as a first step in the right direction.

This is a nice first step to where we want to go. We can see glimmers of how this might work out …

expand full story

Since the initial release of Google Glass at Google I/O last May, people have been calling for the ability to attach prescription lenses to the product. Over the last month, talk of this has heated up with images of Glass with prescription lenses being leaked and much more. Today, however, Glasses company Wetley has released its prescription frames and lenses for Google Glass and they are available for ordering now, dubbed GGRX.

• Easily mounted, no tools required – takes seconds to mount/dismount
• Frame is stainless steel – 30% lighter than typical frame materials – extremely durable
• Lens are polycarbonate – highly impact resistant and durabl
• Comes with Crizal Premium Anti-Reflective coating at no additional cost – reduces eye fatigue and strain
• Made decision early to eschew cheaper materials (plastic frame, CR-39 lenses.)
• Can accommodate almost any prescription
• Also offer lens upgrades, tinting options, and anti-fog coating (some units, not all)

The frames are made of stainless steel and the company touts that the mounting process is incredibly simply and requires no tools whatsoever. There are a variety of options available for purchase and they start at $99. The first option is the frame only. In order to get lenses, you would have to take the frame to your local optometrist. The next option are single vision prescription lenses, which start at $149.99. Next up are progressive prescription lenses at $249.99. Sunglasses with a gray tint and no prescription are available for $139.99, while sunglasses with prescription capabilities are also available.  

GGRX frames are available now at OpticsPlanet.com. Full press release after the jump:

expand full story

I’m not always in full agreement with Wired’s Mat Honan, but his I, Glasshole piece definitely struck a chord with me and my mostly similar experiences with Google Glass.  I can agree with almost everything he’s said on the experience of owning and operating them, at least to an extent.

The biggest point to bring home is the outward awkwardness, but I wouldn’t characterize it as 100% negative across the board like Honan’s experience. He said that even in a room full of Wired writers he’s still ostracized for wearing them. That may be true, but at certain events like his Google event image, they felt pretty normal. I wasn’t at the one pictured, but at Google I/O every 4-5 people at the show were wearing them, even if Google’s own presenters weren’t.  No one was uncomfortable in that environment. I imagine it isn’t uncomfortable at Google or any number of the places that are beta testing the Glass in large numbers relative to the population.

At home or in the general public, I agree – it is definitely jarring wearing them around. You get the same kind of attention that you’d get if you had a massive headwound at the grocery store or if you were waving a light saber around on the way to the coffee shop.  The attention isn’t entirely negative, but it is certainly one of discomfort and curiosity.  Some people ask about them and want to find out what the experience is like. I’ve let tons of people wear mine, and those who’ve tried have usually thought they were ‘cool’.

I’ve found a good way to mitigate the attention is to wear a low lying baseball cap coupled with the Oakley Blades wrap around shades attachment. With this setup, about 90% of the people don’t notice the Glass and just think you are some dork wearing Oakley Blades from 1987. Clearly, Google could innovate here – getting them on normal glasses hides the appearance. They’ve already promised a prescription lens attachement and even shown off some demos.

The 2014 model Glass, as I am now calling them, won’t do much for the appearance.  The inclusion of a mono or stereo headset is just going to complicate the setup rather than simplify it.  Note the left stereo earpiece  comes out of the same right side hole as the right side ear piece.

I feel a little claustrophobic looking at them, and I imagine the final consumer version will have the earpiece coming out of either the back or the other side of the glasses.

Appearances aside, how does it work? expand full story

As we look to the end of 2013 and turn around to see the Google of the last year, we know it’s been a good year. Forget concerns over Google’s purchase of Boston Dynamic’s Robotic program and the joke notion that Google and Skynet will eventually be one. This is a company that surpassed the 1,000 share price in the stock market and brought Google Glass to market as a new form of wearable technology. With these stories and more in mind, let’s take a look at the top 5 Google stories on 9to5Google in 2013. These stories were selected in order by the amount of traffic they had in a single 24 hour period and don’t necessarily reflect the importance of the story itself. In other words, these are the stories you read the most over the course of this year.

expand full story

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.

Second photo of the prescription glass model below …  expand full story

Rumors that Samsung plans to launch a Google Glass competitor have been lent further credence by a design patent uncovered by the WSJ.

While it’s not the first glasses patent Samsung has filed – this one was granted back in March – the latest one does look much closer to something that might actually be launched than the previous design …  expand full story

According to a report from plugged-in technologist Robert Scoble, Google might have plans to rent out around 6,000 square feet inside every Best Buy location to begin selling Google Glass by as early as next year.

Scoble does note that this is still a rumor at this point, but hopefully we’ll get some more details soon. While previous reports claimed that Google Glass could be available for everyone to purchase by the end of the year, Google confirmed earlier this week that Glass will not begin shipping to consumers until at least 2014.

Google Glass is currently still available to those invited to Google’s Glass Explorer program, but the company recently started experimenting with a Gmail style invite-a-friend strategy for the product.

While we heard previously that Google had plans to open its own retail stores, it wouldn’t be the first time its used the store-within-store model as it already operates smaller spaces within Best Buy and Dixons. expand full story

Google is today rolling out its Field Trip app, previously available only on Android and iOS, to those lucky enough to be part of its Google Glass explorers program. While the Google Glassware version of the app appears to offer a slightly stripped down version of the virtual tour guide experience, the hands-free experience with Glass seems to be a natural fit for Field Trip. John Hanke, who is in charge of the Niantic Labs project at Google told Cnet that Field Trip was actually “conceived with Glass in mind, but Glass wasn’t ready.”  expand full story

For those of you out there that have both a Tesla and a pair of Google Glass, here’s an exciting app. A developer has released an app dubbed GLASSTESLA that lets you control your Tesla via Google Glass. The app allows you to do things like manage the charging process, lock and unlock the car, honk the horn, flash the lights, and much more.

If you’ve parked your Tesla Model S somewhere and can’t find it, GLASSTESLA allows you to locate it on a map, but if that doesn’t help you can honk the horn and flash lights from the app, as well. You can also see what doors are open, as well as both the interior and exterior temperatures of the car. The biggest features, I think, surround the charging process… expand full story

Via the official Project Glass page on Google+, Google has announced a major software update coming soon to Glass. The update includes things such as more voice commands, improved web browsing, new ways to connect with family and friends, and more.

First off, a host of new voice commands will be available with this update. If you get a text, you can now ask Glass to read it to you by saying  “ok glass, read aloud” or if someone calls you, simply say “ok glass, answer call.” Finally, you can now share pictures right away by saying “ok glass, share with [name].” expand full story

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

At this point, at the very least, we already know that Google’s augmented reality glasses are capable of snapping a photo. However, we do not have much of an idea of how the UI might work other than what is in the initial concept video. Our sources previously indicated that Google was using a “head tilting-to scroll and click” for navigation of the user interface. Today, we get a look out how the company is experimenting with alternative methods of input for the glasses from a patent recently granted by the United States Patent & Trademark Office and detailed by PatentBolt.

According to the report, the highlight of the patent is how Google’s glasses could work with hand gestures. The patent described various hand-wearable markers, such as a ring, invisible tattoo, or a woman’s fingernail, which could be detected by the glasses’ IR camera, to “track position and motion of the hand-wearable item within a FOV of the HMD.” In other words, the wearable marker, in whatever form factor, would allow the glasses to pick up hand gestures. The report also noted multiple markers could be used to perform complex gestures involving several fingers or both hands: expand full story

Patents recently published by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (via Engadget) show Google successfully patented at least the ornamental design of its “Project Glass” augmented reality glasses unveiled last month. It does not look exactly like the prototypes shown off in the concept videos, nor the pair worn by Sergey Brin, but we expect the design will be altered somewhat before it eventually hits the market. expand full story

.

Somebody (Thomas Hawk – Flickr) with a real camera was on the scene last night to capture Project Glass’ prototypes sitting on Google Co-founder Sergey Brin’s dome.

Another close-up is below (via The Verge).

expand full story