According to the Financial Times, Google has started to accelerate it Glass production in anticipation of rolling out tens of thousands more of the devices in the upcoming months. According to their source, there will be a:
substantial increase of Glass’s manufacturing volumes in the run-up to Christmas. Until now, little more than 10,000 of the Glass “Explorer Edition” products have been distributed to competition winners, developers and other early adopters.
Google has said in the past that Glass will not be sold to the general public until 2014, although, Google has allowed existing owners to invite a limited number of “friends” to purchase Glass – this was just recently done in September and the offer is being extended yet again, as Google expands their testing range…so all you need is an invitation and about $1,500 and you too can become a “Glasshole,” as they affectionately are called.
For those of you new to the techie field, Google Glass is what they call a “wearable” device, much like the new line of smartwatches being released , such the Samsung Galaxy Gear. Glass is worn like a pair of glasses, with a small lens only on the right side that is actually a small display screen that projects images that you can see while you are walking, talking, or even in a meeting. The user is able to an actively participant in that meeting or conversation, all the while receiving alerts or messages that the use can read or ignore by a verbal command of a simple tap on the side of the temple of Glass.
Glass is continually being updated as software fixes pour in, as well as the many suggestions made by App Developers. There will be a significant number of apps that can be downloaded when Glass hits the streets for sale, as well as available voice commands to control the device. Applications will cover a wide variety of topics, from sports to cooking, how-to videos and movies – you will be able to do shopping, use GPS navigation, read emails, text messages, take pictures, use social media, and so much more. The catch phrase is, “OK Glass,” and from there Glass will recognize any one of a dozen or more Google Now commands. More and more people can be seen using or testing their Glass, as more people are invited to participate in this slow, but steady expansion of users, designed to make people more familiar with Glass before a full rollout, most likely near the third or fourth quarter of 2014.
While Google certainly has a headstart with Glass, Samsung patents reveal some sport glasses to compete with Goggle’s Glass and even Microsoft is testing prototypes of their own Glass. Let us know in the comments or on Google+ if you are a Glasshole or would like to be one, and what you think of Glass.