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Recon Jet review: expensive fitness glasses with potential to be better
Recon Jet is a sports computer for long-distance runners and cyclists that's embedded into a pair of sunglasses. Take it on a long, lung-bursting trip and you'll get your speed, cadence and calories, as well as a variety of other stats -- all presented to you on a tiny display placed just below your right eye. At $699, it's priced for the hardcore athletes (and it's certainly catering to that corner of the market). Normally we might not bother with such a niche device but as it happens, the company was recently acquired by Intel for $175 million. As such, we thought it was worth a closer look to see if it heralds a fresh start for face-worn computing -- or if will suffer the same fate as Google Glass.
Google patent uses finger frames to snap pics with Glass-like devices
If you thought wearing a Google Glass headset was awkward, things could get even weirder. The Mountain View company was awarded a patent this week for tech that enables a Glass-like head-mounted display to automatically take pictures when it recognizes your fingers. Specifically, it snaps a pic when you make one of those finger frames like you've seen movie directors use. The patent document also explains that the device can change the orientation of the image based on the positioning of your hands. For example, if you made a circular "O" shape with one hand, you'd end up with a round picture. And the same goes for using two hands to frame a rectangular portrait.
Google's 'GG1' teases a new version of Glass
Before a company announces a device, it has to pass through the FCC's secretive bunker to ensure that it's wireless radios are safe for human contact. Droid Life has trawled through the most recent list of anonymized gadgets to find A4R-GG1, a Google-hewn offering that might, just possibly, be the new version of Google Glass. The clues aren't exactly concrete, but include the fact that the hardware isn't classified as a smartphone, tablet or media device. It's equipped with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth LE and a built-in rechargeable battery, so clearly it's also meant to be taken around with you.
These smart headphones come with a Google Glass lookalike on the side
The unholy union between a pair of over-ear headphones and wearable display that bares a more than passing resemblance to Google Glass. That's how we're going to summarize the SiMe smart headphones. It's a self-contained media player and, by virtue of being attached to large, cushioned headphones, it's one of the more comfortable head-mounted displays this editor has awkwardly modeled in recent years. ChipSiP's "SiME Smart Headphones" are the evolution of its existing (and more familiar-looking) smart glasses. Those are already on sale to developers for around $550 -- and there's a lot of overlap of the tech inside. A spokeswoman told us that ChipSiP hopes to launch in the next three months, although what we wore at Computex in Taipei this week remained prototype hardware.
Recommended Reading: Wearing Google Glass every day for two years
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Two Years Through the Looking Glass by Allen Firstenberg I'm pretty sure there's nothing I've done every day for the last two years. Maybe I've taken a vitamin, but I'm sure I missed a day here or there. Allen Firstenberg is way more dedicated to habit than I am, though. He's been wearing Google Glass since he received the headset two years ago and has a load of observations about the past, present and future of the tech.
Google sends a Glass-like mystery device through the FCC
Google might have just hinted at the future of its Glass headsets. The company has sent a mystery "smart BLE" (Bluetooth Low Energy) device to the FCC for approval, the A4R-CAP1, and there are a few telltale signs that it's one of Mountain View's wearables. Most notably, the product's digital FCC label (shown below) not only looks a lot like a Glass interface card, but requires that you swipe to see it -- that suggests a touchstrip, as you'd use on Google's eyepiece. Mentions of an Android-like firmware revision and a battery help, too. There's the possibility that this is another gadget that simply happens to use Glass-style navigation, but that seems less than likely. Don't be surprised if you're eventually plunking CAP1 on your head.
Luxottica CEO says company is working on Google Glass 2.0
When Nest CEO Tony Fadell took over Google Glass back in February, he pledged to redesign the headset "from scratch." Well, it looks like that process is well underway. In a company meeting today, Luxottica CEO Massimo Vian said the Italian eyewear company is working with the folks in Mountain View on not one, but two new versions of the device. Luxottica owns brands Ray-Ban and Oakley, and if you'll recall, the company worked with Google on frames for the original version of Glass.
Can a head-worn fitness device work? Recon seems to think so
Long before Google had ever uttered the word glass, Recon Instruments was rising to prominence with a head-worn display designed for snow sports. You'd be forgiven for not knowing the name, since the technology was buried inside expensive sets of ski goggles like Oakley's Airwave. Then, the company announced that a new product for cyclists and runners would arrive, this time branded under its own name. Few outside the running/cycling community paid attention to the Recon Jet, since they were all distracted by Google's rival. Two years later, and Glass has been pulled from the market in the hope that Tony Fadell can turn it into a device people want to buy. As such, the road is clear for Recon's fitness-oriented wearable, but can this small Canadian company succeed where Google failed? Earlier this year, I sat down with the company's Tom Fowler and a nearly finished prototype of the final hardware to find out.
Recommended Reading: The life and death and life of Google Glass
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Sorry, but Google Glass isn't Anywhere Close to Dead Cade Metz, Wired Reports claim Google Glass is on its last leg after the folks in Mountain View shuttered the Explorer program last month. Not so fast. The wearable still has a truckload of uses, and making it an enterprise device could be the right move.
Google Glass' new boss wants to redesign the headset 'from scratch'
If you suspected that Google Glass' change of leadership would also lead to a big change in the wearable technology itself, you made a pretty good guess. As part of a tell-all about Glass' troubles, the New York Times is claiming that project lead (and Nest CEO) Tony Fadell plans to redesign the head-mounted computer "from scratch." And unlike the original, you aren't likely to see any public beta testing -- in keeping with earlier pronouncements, one tipster says that Fadell won't release this next-gen device "until it's perfect." Just when that might happen is still up in the air, but the Nest exec's historical focus on shipping over experimentation hints that you won't have to wait years to try Glass 2 for yourself. [Image credit: AP Photo]
Google Glass experiments are done, Nest CEO now in charge
Despite slips in consumer release windows and a sort of manufactured distaste for the people who wear it, rumors of Google Glass' death have been greatly exaggerated. If anything, Google's moonshot wearable just got another lease on life: Fortune reports that the Google Glass team is being spun out into a division of its very own, and that the long-running Glass Explorer program will eventually get the axe as a result. And the person in charge of the future of Glass? None other than Nest co-founder Tony Fadell, to whom current Glass team leader Ivy Ross will soon report.
The next Google Glass will be powered by Intel
The first model might not even be on sale, but the next version of Google Glass will have Intel inside. That's according to the WSJ, who's heard from people familiar with the matter that it will apparently form yet another part of the chipmakers continued push into wearables -- in case you hadn't heard about that before. Intel didn't quite manage to tap into the smartphone boom, with chips licensed from its rival, ARM, powering the majority of smartphones. It took until last year for Intel to finally offer a smartphone processor that could connect to 4G LTE networks. Further still, Intel aims to promote Glass in a work capacity, pitching to hospitals and manufacturing businesses. However, but more importantly than the deal-making itself, we're still waiting to hear how Glass itself will benefit from the new hardware. Neither Intel or Google have responded to the report.
Stupid Hackathon produces zany projects that no one needs
iPad on a face, a Google Glass app that makes the user throw up and a device powered by twerking. These are but some of the masterpieces out of this year's Stupid Hackathon, and they all embody what the event's organizers are looking for: "stupid shit no one needs and terrible ideas." Now before you think we've gone rogue or have had too much wine and stuffing, we promise you that Stupid Hackathon is real, and this is its second run. In fact, we've talked to its masterminds, Amelia Winger-Bearskin and Sam Lavigne, who told us that the event's goal is "to create and fully realize projects that have no value whatsoever."
Movie theaters ban Google Glass and other camera-toting wearables
Many individual American movie theaters are already hostile to guests who use wearables like Google Glass, and they've now made that opposition official on a national level. Both the Motion Picture Association of America and the National Association of Theater Owners have instituted a "zero-tolerance" rule that bans recording-capable wearables during showings. While the policy doesn't say exactly what qualifies, it's clearly targeted at Glass and other headgear. It could technically include camera-equipped smartwatches like the Gear 2, although you probably won't have to worry about stowing your timepiece.
FKA twigs calls on Google Glass for dance tips in her latest music video
FKA twigs already has a reputation for using technology to make artistic statements in her music videos, and her latest takes this to its logical extreme. The two-minute #throughglass promo has twigs using Google Glass to seemingly influence a music video as it's being shot -- she looks for vogue dance tutorials to start things off, and switches to looking for anime-style eyes, gymnastics and "dominant krumping." She records some of the video from Glass' camera, too. The production is decidedly off the wall and probably won't have you rushing out to drop $1,500 just to emulate some slick moves, but it's proof that you can still look vaguely cool with a computer on your head.
Doctors report a case of Google Glass addiction
You've probably heard of Google Glass owners who seemingly can't put the wearable down, but there's now at least one reported instance of genuinely addictive behavior. Doctors at Naval Medical Center San Diego claim that a 31-year-old Navy serviceman is the first person to be diagnosed with a Glass-related internet addiction disorder. The patient wore the head-mounted computer for up to 18 hours a day, and was so attached to it that he would instinctively reach for his right temple (to activate Glass) whenever you asked him a question, whether or not the device was there. He's getting better after having spent 35 days in on-site treatment, according to doctors; that reflexive movement doesn't come up so often, and the man is both less irritable and more focused.
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.
Texting on Google Glass is just as dangerous as on a phone
You'd think hands-free texting on Google Glass while driving would be a lot safer, but apparently, that's not the case. A team of University of Central Florida researchers got 40 subjects in their 20s to drive a simulator while texting a math problem using voice transcription on Google Glass. In particular, the researchers observed how fast the drivers slammed on their brakes when a car suddenly stops in front of them during the simulation. The result? In the words of team leader Ben Sawyer, they "didn't find a statistically significant difference between Google Glass and smartphones," as the testers who wore the eyewear were just as distracted.
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?
