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Google Glass can now display all your phone notifications
Google Glass Explorers will soon be able to see all their phone's notifications (not just the ones from compatible apps) right on the eyewear's screen. It's the same feature that comes with Android Wear, which allows the platform to forward each and every notification to smartwatches, so users won't have to take out their phones unless it's for something truly important. Explorers have to wait for the latest MyGlass software to arrive sometime later today to be able to glimpse each ping with just a flick of the eye. Once they've installed the update, they'll need to activate Notification Sync in their phone's settings. There are a few pages to go through during the process, but nothing overly complicated, so long as they follow the video after the break.
Toshiba prototype is a simpler, lighter Google Glass rival... with a catch
Nearly every tech company wants in on the wearables game, but they can't all be Google Glass or Apple Watches -- not that they have to be. But hey, here's Toshiba -- and it's got a Toshiba Glass prototype to show off. We'll say this right at the start: this remains a reference product that the company's showing off at CEATEC in Japan this week. And yes, technical specifics (let alone a price) aren't being discussed yet, but the vision for Toshiba's eye-based wearable prototype is a gentle, predictable one. The hardware is the combination of a tiny projector, attached to admittedly normal-looking frames. However, there's actually a special kind of one-sided reflective glass to catch the projection. The projection module itself is kind of bulky, but actually lightweight... which is great, until you realize that this prototype requires a constant wired connection to work.
Edinburgh becomes the first UK airport to openly trial Google Glass
Google Glass is still a rare sight in the UK, but it's proving popular amongst brands and businesses, especially when customer service is involved. Virgin Atlantic previously used the headset to welcome passengers to Heathrow, but only now is it making it's airport debut in Scotland. Edinburgh Airport today announced plans to equip its customer service teams with Google's smart eyewear, becoming the first UK airport (not airline) to use it on the front line. Staff will be fed real-time flight information, language translations and information about the local area, allowing them to provide assistance to travellers throughout the airport and not from behind a check-in desk. The airport says it will test Glass until December, meaning you might hear the phrase "OK Glass" if you find yourself, like many recent Ryder Cup golfers, passing through Scotland's busiest terminal in the coming months.
Diane Von Furstenberg's designer Google Glass frames come to the UK
When Google Glass went on sale in the UK in June, deep-pocketed early adopters could choose between the basic frame or one of the more stylish options from Google's Titanium collection for some extra cash. Well-heeled fashionistas that weren't exactly enamoured with Google's range have some new options today, courtesy of designer Diane Von Furstenberg. The "DVF" collection, which dropped stateside a few months ago, is now available to Brits exclusively at online fashion outlet NET-A-PORTER. There's only one style for the ladies, and it comes in five different colors with matching sunglass lens replacements. These retail for £1,250 a piece, whereas the range for gents is slightly cheaper at £1,120. Men have a wider choice of three frame designs, which also include bonus sunglass lenses. They're certainly prettier than the raw frames, and perhaps a little less conspicuous, too. Because you wouldn't want to draw attention to yourself now, would you?
Google Glass lands in the Play Store next to phones and smartwatches
Itching to strap on a $1,500 face computer so you can follow directions floating in front of your head? Well, Google just made it a little easier to claim a head-mounted display of your own -- it quietly added Google Glass to the Play Store the other day, and the search giant seems intent on making it sound, well, cool. To hear the Mountain View spinmasters put it, Glass Explorers aren't just the people who need to try tech before the teeming millions. No no, they're "bold and inspiring," folks who "make move and marvel through Glass." This isn't the first time that Google has tried to broaden Glass' reach -- they opened up the Explorer program to all comers in the US back in May, but it insisted at the time that it was still very much a "beta" product. Between then and now we've seen a slightly tweaked version of Glass launch and a few software updates go live -- none of those changes seem terribly earth-shaking, but it sure is interesting to see Google stop treating Glass like a special little flower that isn't ready for public consumption.
Pandora's radio app for Glass lets you tune into Haim using your head
If you regularly go out wearing Google Glass, you've probably lamented the lack of major music app choices. There's Play Music and... well, that's about it. Never fear, though, as Pandora has just released a Glass app for its internet radio service. The wearable-ready software lets you control streaming without ever having to reach for your phone; you can create or choose stations solely using your voice, and the touchpad lets you both skip annoying tunes and give the thumbs-up to songs you like. It won't cost you anything to download the app, although you can't really call this free. Besides the $1,500 Glass itself, you'll likely want to buy Glass-specific stereo headphones -- that's a lot of money just to get internet radio on an eyepiece.
Google Glass' new features let you switch chat methods on a whim
Some of Google's rapid-fire Glass updates have been more useful than others, but its latest is something you're likely to appreciate -- especially if you're a socialite. The wearable's 20.1 upgrade gives you a much better contact system (shown below) that gives you quicker access to your friends. You can reach 20 of your favorited and recent contacts through voice, and your phone's entire address book is easily accessible. It's also much easier to switch communication methods. If you want to jump from email to Hangouts to deal with a heated conversation, you only have to swipe to make it happen.
Tesco's prototype Glass app lets you order milk by looking at the barcode
While supermarkets have gone mobile to help you order bread and milk while on the go, wearable tech has remained largely unexplored. Not wanting to be left in the chilled section, Tesco gave its R&D boffins Google Glass and tasked them with helping customers order their groceries while barely lifting a finger. The result was a new prototype Glass app that lets the wearer scan a barcode to quickly add products to their virtual basket or find out their nutritional information. Tesco admits that it would struggle with the rigors of a weekly shop, but says the app perfect for "micro interactions" -- i.e. that time when you realise you've just used the last piece of toilet roll.
Google's peculiar floating barge meets its maker
Remember Google's mysterious floating barge? Well, you probably won't for much longer, because it's met an untimely end. According to the Portland Press Herald, the search giant no longer has a use for the iconic four-story structure, so it's been sold to an anonymous "international barging company" and will be broken down for scrap. It's a rather damp end for the barge, which was set to become a high-tech showroom for inventions like Glass, self-driving cars and other top-secret inventions from Google's X lab, after it first appeared in Portland Harbor late last year. Google's yet to comment on why it's no longer interested in hosting tech-centric cocktail parties, but cost is likely the ultimate factor. It paid $400,000 in property taxes alone to moor the barge on the city's waterfront -- then there's also the small matter of retrofitting its 63 shipping containers into something that Californians would actually want to visit.
Stanford medical students learn to operate with Google Glass
Like their fellow future doctors down the road in Irvine, medical students at Stanford University will learn surgical methods with a hand from Google Glass. Those studying cardiothoracic techniques are set use Mountain View's high-tech spectacles to stream their views in real-time to instructors with the help of CrowdOptic -- a company that's part of the Glass at Work initiative. The aforementioned California-based schools aren't the first use the gadget in surgery, as it has already streamed full procedures. Privacy concerns immediately arise when discussing the use of a hackable device in medical settings, but CrowdOptic knows how it will secure the data and comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It also won't have access to the captured video as they're set to remain Stanford's property. The streaming outfit has also locked down its own spectrum, so it doesn't have to keep tabs on steady WiFi to stay connected. With more universities and physicians opting for Glass on the regular, it seems medicine is one place the wearable fits in nicely. [Photo credit: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
eBay brings its RedLaser barcode-scanner app to Google Glass
You might know eBay as the website where you can buy a rare NES game for a hundred grand, but the company also has its own barcode scanner, called RedLaser. It's been out on Android and iOS for a while, and now the company is bringing it to Google Glass, allowing you to quite literally buy whatever you set your sights on. Like the existing app, the Glass version scans barcodes and spits back a list of current prices at different retailers. From there, you can find a brick-and-mortar store nearby, complete with directions, if you need them. And, of course, like any good online retailer, eBay will show a list of related products, similar to whatever it is you just searched for. All told, we're guessing you can probably spare a few minutes to stop what you're doing and use the phone app instead, but let's be honest: Scanning stuff with your eye sounds pretty fun. Just be aware, though, that if you want to purchase something, you will in fact have to pick up your phone -- the app will send an email notification to your mobile device so you can complete the transaction. [Image credit: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Google letting curious explorers take Glass for a free spin
Glass has run the opinion gamut from "great" to "hate" to "surprisingly useful," but Google thinks you should forget all that. We just received an invitation (after the break) to several Google Glass "Basecamp" offices with the following teaser: "There's a lot of talk about Glass, but have you tried it for yourself yet?" If you're near San Francisco, LA or New York, you'll need to schedule an invitation for a fitting, service or a demo. For those worried about the original, not-so-stylish cyborg look, Google has hooked up with couture magnate Diane Von Furstenberg to create more normal eyewear designs. And of course, anybody can get them now -- as long as you're willing to burn $1,500.
Google Glass founder heads to Amazon
The optics savant that helped Google create Glass has just announced that he's "super excited" to be joining Amazon. Babak Parvis was one of the original members of Google's Project X skunkworks lab, and the first head of the Glass project team. Prior to that, the Seattle resident was a researcher at the University of Washington where he developed the first contact lenses with integrated circuits. Later, he worked with Microsoft on research for blood-glucose monitoring contacts with Microsoft, a project he eventually brought to Google. Parvis didn't say exactly what he'd be doing with Amazon, but projects like Google's Tango, the Oculus Rift and Amazon's new Fire phone and Firefly app have made optics designers a hot commodity. Meanwhile, Glass is well past the research stage where Parvis shined, so Google now has design guru Ivy Ross in charge for a likely consumer launch. [Image credit: loiclemeur/Flickr]
Control Google Glass with your mind... and a second headset
Up until now, you can only navigate Google Glass by touching or talking to it, but London-based firm This Place just made it possible to control the device using something else: your brainwaves. The company just released an open source application called MindRDR that gives you something akin to very, very limited telekinetic abilities -- so long as you have both Google Glass and Neurosky's EEG biosensor headset. See, MindRDR serves as the bridge that connects the two, translating the brain activity from the EEG biosensor into executable commands for the high-tech eyewear. At the moment, the software can only take pictures and upload them to either Facebook or Twitter, but This Place released the app for free on GitHub in hopes that other developers will use it for more advanced projects.
UK cinemas to ban Google Glass over piracy fears
The UK's data regulator may have clarified that Google Glass shouldn't be singled out for special measures over personal use, but that isn't stopping domestic companies from enforcing their own rules. The Independent reports that just a week after the Google wearable finally went on sale in Britain for a hefty £1,000, UK cinemas are banning it over fears that "Explorers" could use them to pirate movies. "Customers will be requested not to wear these into cinema auditoriums, whether the film is playing or not," says Phil Clapp, chief executive of the Cinema Exhibitors' Association (CEA), which offers guidance to 90 percent of the UK's cinema providers. Movie chain Vue is enforcing a ban, asking users to remove their eyewear "as soon as the lights dim," while Odeon requests that "guests and employees do not wear Google Glasses [...] capable of recording images and video within the cinema auditorium."
Google Glass gets no special treatment under UK data collection laws
Google Glass is now available for general consumption in the UK, which means us Brits can start debating all the privacy and legal issues associated with people carting around cameras on their face. In reaction to the wearable's launch, The Information Commissioner's Office -- the independent regulator of data protection, privacy and freedom of information rights -- has decided to clarify exactly how Glass fits into current legislation. And, quite understandably, the spectacles don't have their own set of special rules. Anything you record through Glass for personal, non-commercial use complies with the Data Protection Act, just like using a regular camcorder or taking a picture with your smartphone in a public place. Similarly, companies and other organisations need to comply with all the same rules governing the collection and processing of images and video they do currently.
These early Google Glass prototypes looked (even more) awkward
Whether you believe Google Glass looks hideous or fashionable -- and hey, we're not here to judge -- the current model looks a heckuva lot better than its first few prototypes. The first models arrived on the scene in 2010, and they looked more like the mess Jason Jones slapped together for the Daily Show than an actual consumer product. Three of the earliest prototypes, spanning two years, were on display at I/O this week.
Lenovo's Google Glass-like wearable concept keeps your voice chats private
Even Lenovo isn't immune from the temptation to produce a Google Glass-like wearable display, it seems. The Chinese tech giant has applied for a US patent on a headset design with dual screens, touch-based navigation and an unusually strong emphasis on voice quality. Rather than use conventional noise-canceling microphones, like Google, Lenovo would use a bone-conducting microphone just above your nose bridge. The approach would make it easier to catch your voice, since you wouldn't have to compete with outside sounds for attention; it could also offer an extra level of privacy for internet calls, since you could speak quietly and still get your message across.
New Google Glass headsets ship with more memory, everyone gets help with photos
Two years after it was introduced, Google Glass hasn't gotten any cheaper -- although it is a bit more stylish with Diane von Furstenberg frames and international now that it's launched in the UK -- but it is getting better. Not just through one of the many software updates that have reached the headset since its debut either, as its hardware has undergone a mild revision. Google announced that new units are shipping with 2GB of RAM, double the amount previously available, among other tweaks that have improved battery life and made voice search better.
Google Glass goes on sale in the UK for £1,000
Although technically still in the beta phase of development, anyone with the right wallet size can now buy Google Glass in the US. The UK has had little exposure to the eminent wearable outside of special projects, but Google's decided it's time to let Brits get in on the fun, too. Early adopters of the UK can hand now over a cool £1,000 ($1,700) in exchange for a pair of Big G's spectacles, in the first general sale program outside of the US. You can opt for the generic frame in one of five colors, or spring for one of the prescription Titanium collection for £175 extra. Whichever you choose, though, don't expect to escape funny looks from the vast majority of Brits that'll finally be seeing the mythical wearable in the flesh for the first time.
