It was easy to be caught up in the excitement of Google I/O on Wednesday and allow the announcement of a Google Glass XE18.3 update slide under the radar…but this is one update that is worth waiting for, even if just for the viewfinder. Up until now, the Glass wearer wasn’t exactly sure what they were recording or taking a picture of as there was no simple ‘corners’ showing the limitations and edges of the picture. Now when you say, “ok glass” then “Show the viewfinder” and it will pop up on your screen so you can frame your picture or video before you snap the picture or shot your video. You can also say “Take a picture” or “Record a video” and the viewfinder will pop up, but it would be too late to take advantage of it. You can also wink to take a picture, if you turned on that feature, or simply press the camera button.
This software upgrade will also offer simplified pairing by walking you through the pairing process to your phone via Bluetooth. Simply tap the Bluetooth card, select Android or iPhone, and follow the new step-by-step instructions – almost seems like this would be a no brainer to already have this installed on Glass, but this is all part of the ‘fine tuning’ going on to make Glass more user friendly as Google gets closer to its release date.
The other big change in this software upgrade is something called Recovery Mode. If Glass crashes or gets stuck on the boot screen, you now can turn to Recovery Mode. The steps listed are to: Turn off Glass – hold the camera button – then press the power button once – Continue to hold the camera button for about 10 seconds and Glass will go into Recovery Mode – With the camera button, you can navigate and select different debugging options, including one to reset your device into a good state.
The update should be rolling out now and we would love for you to hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know if you like the update and if the viewfinder was a suggestion that you asked for…as always, we would love to hear from you.