Project Glass

Farewell, Explorers. Goodbye, Glass. Google's decision to spin out its controversial wearable into a standalone business was instantly portrayed by many as the often-predicted death of the headset, but the reality is less clear-cut. Glass' struggles saw early enthusiasm sour when questions around privacy and usefulness collided head-on with anti-ostentatious-geek sentiment, and the "face computer" never managed to restore its reputation. While the temptation may be to hit delete on the whole saga, I'd argue a Glass reboot with far greater focus on how head-worn wearables might fit into our daily lives would be a far more rewarding strategy.

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The Google Glass Explorer Program has officially been tapped by Google to shut down. That doesn't mean that there won't be any more Google Glass - in fact the opposite, more than likely - it's just part of the transition process. When a group exits inside Google X, Google's experimentation lab, it generally has more of a "not quite ready for the real world" vibe to it - now Google Glass is being brought into that real world. The real working world - not necessarily as a consumer product.

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From now until the 16th of February, the de Young Museum in San Francisco will be hosting Keith Haring: The Political Line, fully Google Glass-friendly. It's not a direct effort on the part of Google to represent Glass for new users - they're not exactly aiming for the consumer market at the moment - but it is set to be a treat for Google Glass Explorers. The "Explorer" group of Google Glass owners are the first wave - early adopters - and possibly the last wave of users outside the enterprise market.

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Guess what: Google Glass isn’t dead. The news that Intel will probably be found inside the next generation of Glass wasn’t so much a surprise for its “x86 vs ARM” narrative, but that Google was not only still committed to the wearable project but actively developing it. Although unconfirmed, as the whispers would have it, Intel’s silicon will oust the aging TI cellphone processor found in the current iteration of Glass, quite the coup for a chipmaker still struggling to make a dent in mobile. The switch is about more than just running Glass’ Android fork, however: it could mean a fundamental and hugely beneficial evolution in how Glass operates and how it addresses some of the current shortcomings in battery life and dependence on the cloud.

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At the red carpet Annual Breakthrough Prize Awards held at Silicon Valley, Google co-founder Sergey Brin arrived on the scene without his usual accessory, his Google Glass, adorning his head. Although the exec did say he left his in the car, perhaps for the sake of respect and propriety, the absence of a product placement in a high profile tech even managed to spark some discussion about the Google's "moonshot" product. Is Google Glass DOA? Of course, Google would insist otherwise, but some are pointing to writings on the wall.

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Samsung may not have unleashed its long-rumored Glass rival, but behind the scenes the company has been piecing together the components for just such a device, or indeed a new range of bending wearables. Samsung Electro-Mechanics has quietly shown off a line-up of flexible PCBs which could potentially wrap inside a face-hugging headset or curve neatly around a wrist for a future smartwatch, along with a grab bag of other components such as multi-mode sensors and more flexible wireless charging systems.

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Of all the faults, goofy aesthetics, and generally questionable decisions around Google Glass, the fact that wearing it on your face means you might not be able to see quite as clearly seems a pretty commonsense issue. Still, a team at the University of California, San Francisco opted to look at just that, trying to figure out whether a head-mounted display could in fact present a significant risk to peripheral vision. It'll come as little surprise to find that having a chunk of electronics poised over your right eye does indeed block off some of your visual field.

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Google's smartglasses have yet another update inbound, this one bringing with it new functionality that will make life a bit easier for users. Once it arrives, Google Glass users will be able to see Android app notifications from their smartphone on the wearable, giving a hands-free option to see what notifications you have and whether any of them are worth pulling your phone out for. Those using an Android Wear device will likely already be familiar with the Notification Sync feature.

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The most tricked-out police force on earth have just gotten an upgrade. Dubai, one of the most quickly expanding cities in modernity have just given their police force the OK to incorporate Google Glass into their daily routine. Their aim? Facial recognition for the masses.

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Our Canadians friends could be seeing Google's wearable arrive in the near future, at least if a card surfacing in a recent pair of Glass is any indication. Nothing firm has been stated, but the card serves as a pretty solid hint that the wearable could finally be making its way north.

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This week Google has updated its device store with a couple of new devices. First - and perhaps most important - is the Google sales portal for Moto 360. Where earlier today Motorola’s own sales portal was the only place you’d have been able to purchase their round watch, now Google is bringing the heat as well. Google Glass has been for sale from Google before, but never through Google Play directly.

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Google Glass now has Pandora support, giving the wearable another option for streaming music playback. The new Glassware pipes Pandora's ever-changing custom radio playlists to the headset, complete with support for starting a new channel or picking from a preexisting one.

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