Project Glass
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Google Glass may gain iOS direction, text message support soon
Like it or hate it, Google Glass has recently been discussed on a lot of tech blogs. Tim Stevens at our sister site Engadget has been trying out his Glass around the house and on hot motorcycles, and a lot of other tech bloggers shelled out $1,500 to get the developer version of the device. One big negative for Apple fans has been that currently, only Android users get support for navigation and SMS text messaging. Now, Frederic Lardinois at our other sister site TechCrunch has news that iOS support may be coming soon. Lardinois was at the Google New York office yesterday picking up his own Glass and was told that turn-by-turn directions and SMS will soon be possible "independent of the device the user has paired it to." Right now, Glass will happily pair with your iPhone to get online (Glass doesn't contain its own cellular radio), but the higher functions need a Glass companion app running on an Android phone. Glass not only requires a mobile phone for connectivity while on the go, but location information as well. As Lardinois notes, "Glass is just another device that uses your phone's personal hotspot feature. This means Glass shouldn't have to depend on any application that runs on your phone, so the original restriction of making navigation and SMS dependent on the companion app was always a bit odd." The general public will most likely have to wait at least a year for widespread availability of Glass, so it's comforting to know that our Borg implant high-tech eyewear should work happily with iOS by that point.
The Daily Roundup for 04.26.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 04.25.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Weekly Roundup for 04.15.2013
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 04.19.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 04.17.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 04.16.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 03.27.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 03.26.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 03.12.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 02.27.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Editorial: Google Glass contest elicits mild uses for wild tech
Google's #ifihadglass contest advertises for "bold, creative individuals" to start carrying pre-production builds of Glass later this year. Since most people flatter themselves as dauntless and inspired, Google's challenge casts a wide net and applications are piling into Twitter. The contest apparently also seeks prosperous individuals willing to pay $1,500 for the prize, plus travel expense to pick it up. There might be good fiscal reasons for Google's parsimony, but I can't help noting that the $12 million of revenue generated by eager beta testers represents five-thousandths of 1 percent of the company's market cap, or one-tenth of a percent of its liquid cash. Putting aside whatever demographic-shaping is in play, the more interesting question is whether Google will find its desired 8,000 bold creative types. The applications do not foretell blazing originality among foaming early adopters. If there is a depressing strain of mediocrity in the #ifihadglass Twitter stream, perhaps it speaks less to human limitation and more to intrinsic constraints of the device as it is currently understood.
The Daily Roundup for 02.21.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
The Daily Roundup for 02.20.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Google Glass Explorer Edition arrives at the FCC
Folks, the rather dour line drawing that you can see in the image above is the very first glimpse of Google's wearable computing project as it swings through the FCC's underground facility. The Google Glass Explorer Edition hardware, promised to arrive this year, is carrying a Broadcom 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g WiFi radio that's been paired with a Bluetooth 4.0 + LE module. We've seen a reference to an "integral vibrating element that provides audio to the user via contact with the user's head," which we presume relates to the bone conduction patent we saw earlier this month. The filing also reveals that the testing laboratory involved used the conduction technology to view video with audio. As the commission is now making the paperwork public, it can only mean that it's judged the unit, with the product code "XEB," to be safe for human consumption -- which means customers 782 and 788 might be expecting something special in the mail very shortly.
Google dreams up tiny laser projection system to control Project Glass
A virtual touchpad projected onto limbs and other everyday surfaces? That's the type of crazy idea we'd normally expect to see from Microsoft Research, not Google. Heck, maybe we even did, but Google is now applying to patent the concept specifically in relation to Project Glass. The system would use a tiny laser projector mounted on the arm of the spectacles to beam out QWERTY and other buttons, and then the built-in camera and processor would try to interpret finger movements in the region of those buttons. Hey presto! No more fiddling with your face.
The Daily Roundup for 01.16.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Google patents an electronically-controlled Project Glass nose bridge for Sergey's comfort
Sergey Brin spends a lot of time wafting around town with his Project Glass(es) on, and he's never complained about the pain of carrying a computer on his nose. Perhaps now, we've learned why. Google's latest patent reveals that the company is considering a malleable nose bridge that hardens and softens, thanks to an electrically-controlled fluid with a changeable viscosity. All you'd have to do is tap the touchpad and tweak it to save you getting dents in your skin. There's no evidence to suggest we'll see the tech in the Explorer Edition of the headgear, but perhaps Mountain View have just solved a problem that us nerds suffer from.
Google nabs design patent for left-eyed Google Glass, frees southpaws from tyranny
No more shall lefties wanting Google Glass toil under the oppression of right-handed overlords. Not if Google's newly granted design patent is an indication, at any rate. The filing simply puts the eyepiece on the other side for those who are either naturally left-inclined or just that much opposed to the optical status quo. There's no guarantee Google will be so accommodating when Glass reaches the general public, although we're hopeful: when early adopters are already paying a small fortune to leap in, it wouldn't hurt to produce a batch for left eye use and give the more committed southpaws among us the freedom they've craved since Google I/O.
Google Glass shows how Diane von Furstenberg is living, what it's like at New York Fashion Week (video)
Project Glass has already given adrenaline junkies a POV view of a skydiver's freefall, and now Google's giving fashionistas a similar rush with a new film about New York Fashion Week. It was shot entirely with Glass by various folks at the DVB show, including Diane von Furstenberg herself, who also provided the video's narration. Looking for a pre-show pep talk from one of the fashion industry's true titans and some behind the scenes footage of runway beauties? Perhaps you just wanna know what it's like to stroll the catwalk and be bathed in the flashbulbs of hundreds of paparazzi? Your bliss awaits in the four minute clip after the break.
