Google Glass

Google shows a possible killer feature for AR glasses

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A screen shot from Google's video shows language transcription on the screen.
A screen shot from Google's video shows language transcription on the screen.
Photo: Google

Years ago Google failed to find a broad audience for Google Glass, its internet-connected glasses. But now the tech giant’s trying something new. It previewed augmented reality (AR) glasses Wednesday that translate language, Bloomberg reported.

The company conducted a brief demonstration at its annual I/O developer conference and released a video on Twitter, below.

Google takes aim at enterprise with new $999 Glass headset

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Google
Say hello to Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2.
Photo: Google

Google Glass is officially moving out of Alphabet’s “moon shot factory” to become an official Google product.

The search engine giant revealed its new Glass Enterprise Edition 2 spectacles today only instead of trying to reach mass appeal with consumers, Google is focused solely on making Glass great for businesses.

Leaked images of second-gen Google Glass reveal USB-C upgrade

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technoblog
Say hello to the new Google Glass.
Photo: Tecnoblog

Google Glass is set to get an upgrade later this year for enterprise users and it looks like USB-C charging will be one of the big new features.

Leaked images of the second-generation Google Glass for enterprise surfaced on the web today. The images show that Google is ditching its magnetic cable charging system in favor of a single quick-charging port.

Take a closer look:

Amazon could launch Alexa smart glasses this year

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Google Glass 2.0
Creator of the Google Glass is behind Amazon's new initiative.
Photo: Google

Amazon is working on developing a pair of smart glasses that will come with its virtual assistant Alexa built in, a new report claims.

It’s not clear the exact functionality that the smart glasses will offer, but among them will be to the ability to let users converse with Alexa at any time. This will work via a bone-conduction audio system so that the user does not have to wear headphones to hear Alexa’s responses.

Google Glass gets makeover for factory floors

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Google Glass 2.0
Google Glass 2.0 with a new lunch-bucket worker image.
Photo: Google

Google Glass was a bold look at the future to the select “explorers” who tested the personal computing eyewear in 2013. It also looked funny and creepy to the rest of us.

Today, Google rolled out polished new Glass Enterprise Edition, a workplace tool with valued applications in fields ranging from manufacturing to health care.

Leaked Apple injuries report hints at AR glasses

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Google Glass wasn't meant to be a big success... yet.
What will Apple's AR glasses look like?
Photo: Google

New clues about prototype products Apple is currently testing may have just been revealed by leaked documents originating from Apple’s Cupertino campus.

A report on Apple compiled by an Environment Health and Safety contractor has reportedly leaked online today. Inside the report are over 70 different incidents that occurred on the campus. Most of the incidents in the report are fairly ordinary, but a couple entries hint at Apple developing augmented reality glasses.

Snapchat Spectacles could blur a line between fun and privacy

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Spectacles are no longer a U.S. exclusive.
Spectacles are no longer a U.S. exclusive.
Photo: Snap, Inc.

After Google released a limited number of Google Glass devices to eager beta testers a few years back, I found myself one day sitting next to a kid in a coffee shop wearing one.

I waited for the jerking gestures of his head to pause to ask him how he liked this much-hyped future of personal computing. He loved it but wondered if people would ever stop worrying about whether he was covertly filming them.

Microsoft’s crazy HoloLens ad reveals our cyborg futures

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hololens by microsoft
Yes, it's stupid, but I want it.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft today announced that it’s opening up its HoloLens platform to third-parties — and it has a crazy new ad to celebrate.

The three-minute clip showcases some of HoloLens’ insane capabilities, like turning an old warehouse into a shoe store, putting people from around the world in the same room, and taking you on sublime acid trips without the acid.

VR in the OR: Doctor will livestream cancer surgery

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vr-in-the-or-doctor-will-livestream-cancer-surgery-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201603Virtual-reality-goggles-by-fill-jpg
"OK, now let's cut this guy open."
Photo: Florian Pircher/Pixabay. Licensed under CC0 1.0

Next month, St. Bartholemew’s Hospital in London will live-stream an operation, letting anyone with virtual-reality goggles see the procedure from any angle.

Dr. Shafi Ahmed, the colorectal and laparoscopic surgeon who will perform the surgery, has broadcast from the O.R. before using Google Glass. But this will be the first time a stream will include 360-degree video that will let viewers observe from any angle.

“You’ll be with me in the operating theater,” he said.

Android’s design guru says iPhone interface is ‘heavy and burdensome’

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iPhone 6
Damn that easy-to-use grid of apps!
Photo: Apple
Damn that easy-to-use grid of apps. Photo: Apple
Damn that easy-to-use grid of apps. Photo: Apple

The iPhone may have fundamentally changed Google’s plans for its Android smartphone platform, but according to Google’s design chief, the iOS homescreen layout — consisting of grids of apps icons — is disappointingly stagnant.

“[The iPhone] crystallised a lot of other things that were kind of stayed even by that point, like the rows of icons, which don’t scale very well,” Matias Duarte, Google’s vice president of design, told Wired. “This idea of a tiny grid that you manually curate starts to feel very heavy and burdensome.”

Here’s what the new, better Google Glass looks like

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heres-what-the-new-better-google-glass-looks-like-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads201512Google-glass-jpg

This is the new Google Glass.
This is the new Google Glass.

The FCC has given us our first glimpse at Google’s next-generation Glass headset today, thanks to a public filing that includes detailed photos of the new glasses aimed at enterprise.

Tony Fadell was put in charge of redesigning Google Glass into something non-nerds would actually want to wear, and based on the FCC’s images, it looks like his team has done just that. Not only is the new Google Glass slimmer and durable, it also touts a bigger display prism while packing a hinge that will allow wearers to fold it up during travel.

We still don’t know when or if Google will officially announce the headset, but based on the FCC documents, it appears that the device is nearly ready to launch.

Take a look at its internals:

Wearables aren’t flying with the IT crowd

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Time travel without a flux capacitor - right on your wrist.
But ... Apple Watch doesn't even connect to Wi-Fi.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A new study suggests that the increased popularity of wearables like the Apple Watch and fitness trackers in the workplace is giving information technology professionals the willies.

IT tool and service provider Ipswitch polled 288 workers who feel like the burgeoning devices might present some problems, especially if they’re connected to company-owned Wi-Fi networks.

Apple hires HoloLens engineer for its own AR project

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Apple is assembling an AR team to take on HoloLens.
Apple is assembling an AR team to take on HoloLens.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft’s new HoloLens project has shown the tech world where the future of augmented reality might lead, and according to a Wall Street analyst, Apple is making moves to catch up with its own AR product.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster reports that Apple has poached Microsoft’s lead HoloLens audio engineer — and that there are other signs Cupertino is assembling an AR team.

Apple vs. Google: Which titan will crumble first?

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Who's your money on?
Who is your money on?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Like every other company, Apple and Google have had their share of highs and lows in the past — but one thing that’s for sure is that neither of them can keep going from strength-to-strength indefinitely; they’ll both stumble at some point in the future.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2But which will be the first to take a tumble?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question!

New version of Google Glass will turn your boss into a Glasshole

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Google Glass header
Just when you thought you were safe from the Glassholes ...
Photo: Google

Google Glass has returned to keep looking like a really lame version of the future, according to reports. The company is rolling out a new, office-ready version of its augmented-reality wearable to businesses that aims to correct some of the problems of the earlier model.

The new hardware features a smaller form factor, prolonged battery life, and a faster processor.

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Tony Fadell: I volunteered to save Google Glass

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When Tony Fadell was put in charge of Google Glass earlier this year, we wrote that the father of the iPod had been “tasked with saving Google Glass from extinction.”

According to a new interview with the Nest co-founder, that’s not entirely accurate, though. Fadell says that rather than being saddled with the project by Google, he actively asked for it.

“It wasn’t handed to me and said, ‘Tony clean it up,'” he explained. “I offered. I remember what it was like when we did the iPod and the iPhone [at Apple]. I think this can be that important, but it’s going to take time to get it right.”

Wearables: Doomed or darlings of the next decade?

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Do you own a wearable yet? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Do you own a wearable yet? Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

After outselling all Android Wear watches within 24 hours, Apple Watch looked set to be the device that would finally give smartwatches their big break. But according to a recent report, sales of Cupertino’s first wearable have since nosedived 90%.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2It’s wise to take that report with a pinch of salt, but it got us thinking; if Apple’s first smartwatch really is a flop, which company can make a wearable worth wearing, and do wearable devices have a future at all?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question.

The iPod’s godfather is still waiting for his Apple Watch

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Fadell
From the sound of things, Nest CEO Tony Fadell learned quite a bit from working with Steve Jobs.
Photo: Nest

Before creating the home automation company Nest, Tony Fadell cut his teeth at Apple by creating revolutionary products like the iPod. You’d think being one of the key guys behind Apple’s resurgence in the early aughts means you get hooked up with Apple products for life, but according to Fadell, he had to pre-order the Apple Watch like the rest of us peasants. And he’s still waiting for it to arrive.

Smart sport glasses want to be Apple Watch for your head

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Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
The Recon Jet is Google Glass for sports like running and cycling. It's highly functional and works well, but still suffers from the Glasshole effect. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo:

You rarely see Google Glass anymore, but if Recon Instruments has its way, you’ll be seeing plenty more head-mounted displays in the future.

The Recon Jet, launched Thursday, is a pair of smart eyeglasses for sporty activities like running and biking. Bristling with sensors, the device shows all kinds of biometric data and social stats on its tiny heads-up display. Paired with a smartphone, it can take pictures and video, send and receive status updates, find friends and family on the piste and much more.

But sports is just a start. If Recon is successful — and that’s a big if — we may be seeing smart glasses in a lot more places. Recon is betting hard that the face is the place for smart wearables.

Google Glass isn’t dead, it’s just getting ready for users

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Google’s first foray into wearables didn’t do as well as the company expected. Despite closing the Google Glass explorer program in January though, Eric Schmidt says the project isn’t dead yet. It’s just getting ready for users.

Nest founder Tony Fadell, took over the project earlier this year after the company decided to stop selling the first version of Google Glass. According to Schmidt the technology behind Glass is too important to scrap, so they’ve moved it out of the Google X research lab and are developing it into a standalone unit.

Black Eyed Peas rapper apl.de.ap on Apple and the blessing of challenges

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The Black Eyed Peas co-founder apl.de.ap relies heavily on Apple gear. Photo: Sebastien Camelot/Flickr CC
The Black Eyed Peas co-founder apl.de.ap relies heavily on Apple gear. Photo: Sebastien Camelot/Flickr CC

The Black Eyed Peas’ co-founder apl.de.ap is at the top of his game in the music industry and a total Apple fan. He’s also just beginning to speak out about his journey from a young boy with a visual impairment to his current status as a star vocal coach on The Voice of The Philippines.

“I was born with my eye condition,” apl.de.ap, aka Allan Pineda, told Cult of Mac. “Today, I feel much less handicapped by my legal blindness as technology has helped me a lot…. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t extremely tough at times, and occasionally I still feel challenged by it.”

He lives and breathes by his MacBook Pro, thinks Siri is amazing and messes about with music apps on his phone. He shared with Cult of Mac the story of his early life, the visual problem known as nystagmus, and his reliance on and use of technology and Apple products, which he says have helped him get through “a lot of things that would otherwise leave me helpless.”

How Apple would have made Google Glass a success

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Google Glass will be back.
Could Apple have done any better? We think so. Photo: Google
Photo: Google

Now that Google has pulled Glass off the market, for the time being at least, we’re left with a handful of questions that can’t be easily answered — even by a face-mounted computer.

Questions like, “What went wrong?” And, “What didn’t go wrong?” And, perhaps most enlightening of all, “How would Apple have gotten Glass right?”

While Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of worldwide marketing, was not a fan of Glass, we’re certain Cupertino could have found success with a head-mounted wearable. Here’s how.