http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/532691/google-glass-is-dead-long-live-smart-glasses/
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http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/532691/google-glass-is-dead-long-live-smart-glasses/
Posted from WordPress for Android
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Glass Is Dead; Long Live Smart Glasses
Even though Google’s head-worn computer is going nowhere, the technology is sure to march on.
http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/532691/google-glass-is-dead-long-live-smart-glasses/
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Why It Matters
Wearable electronics could open up new applications such as memory aids and navigational tools.
Two and a half years after Google cofounder Sergey Brin unveiled Google Glass with a group of skydivers jumping from a zeppelin above San Francisco, the computer you wear on your face is falling to its death. It’s still not a finished consumer product. It’s not even close to being something people yearn for, at least not beyond the Glass Explorers who each paid $1,500 for early access.
Although Google says it’s still committed to Glass, several companies, including Twitter, have stopped working on apps for it. Babak Parviz, the creator of Glass, left Google in July for a job as a vice president at Amazon, where he’s looking into new areas of technology.
A lot of this is Google’s fault. Rather than spending years developing Glass in secret, Google trotted it out as an early “beta” product that was somewhat functional but finicky and literally in your face. It hoped that software developers would come up with killer applications and that the people wearing it would act as evangelists.
But despite Google’s missteps, the technology isn’t going away. The idea that Glass represents—allowing you to ingest digital information at a glance—has appealed for decades to die-hards like Thad Starner, a Glass technical lead who has been making and wearing these kinds of gadgets since 1993
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wall Street Journal:
Intel chips will replace Texas Instruments’ in a new version of Google Glass coming next year —
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/google-glass-deal-thrusts-intel-deeper-into-wearable-devices-1417395598-lMyQjAxMTA0MjMwMDEzMDA4Wj
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rachel Metz / MIT Technology Review:
Interest in Google Glass wanes, but display, lens and battery technologies it has spurred will continue to be developed — Google Glass Is Dead; Long Live Smart Glasses — Even though Google’s head-worn computer is going nowhere, the technology is sure to march on.
http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/532691/google-glass-is-dead-long-live-smart-glasses/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel X86 Eyes Google Glass
Analysts skeptical of smartglasses
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1324818&
The next generation of Google Glass may have new guts, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), which expects a deal between Google and Intel.
The smart glasses currently run on Omap, an ARM-based SoC from Texas Instruments, but future iterations of the device may use Intel’s x86 processor. Though officials from Google and Intel would not comment on the use of x86 chips, Intel has aggressively targeted the wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) markets since Brian Krzanich became the company’s chief executive officer in 2013.
“Intel is in a position where they’re going to do whatever it takes to get into some of these devices,” Patrick Moorhead, an analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy, told EE Times. “There’s obviously something very intriguing about the Intel architecture that Google noticed, compared to ARM. TI just is a slower, smaller, less apt to really innovate company right now.”
Envisioneering research director Rick Doherty said Intel has a close partnership with Google, from optimizing web browsing to tightening the relationship between x86 processors and Google’s Android. Intel’s participation in Google Glass will be a “marquee win,” regardless of the device’s success.
Industry chatter has experts questioning the staying power of Google Glass. Doherty and Moorhead took issue with the device for being “creepy” and not suited for users with a dominant left eye.
“Everybody is trying lots of different things, and the hope is that one or two of the various experiments will pan out and lead the way for some massive new kind of devices,” Doherty said. “But we haven’t seen that yet.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Luxottica and Intel Take the Fashion/Tech Hookup to a Whole New Level
http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/luxottica-and-intel-to-collaborate-on-eyewear-tech/?_r=0
On Wednesday, Luxottica, the Italian eyewear behemoth, and Intel, the American technology giant, announced a partnership for the research and development of tech-infused glasses that both signals a new stage in the wearables revolution and shows the brands staking their claims as the most tech-forward fashion company and the most fashion-aware tech company.
“The growth of wearable technology is creating a new playing field for innovation,” Brian Krzanich, the Intel chief executive, said in the announcement. “Through our collaboration with Luxottica Group, we will unite our respective ecosystems. We expect the combination of our expertise to help drive a much faster pace of innovation and push the envelope.”
“Google Glass is a specific product we are working on,” he said. “With Intel, we are researching new possibilities that can be applied or offered to many brands.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
News & Analysis
Intel Picks Smartglass Partner
Oakley, Ray Ban may get an x86
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1324860&
Intel has announced a multi-year research-and-development partnership to develop high-end smart eyewear with Italian fashion designer Luxottica. The chipmaker also is expected to have silicon in the next generation of Google Glass. Luxottica also is a Google Glass partner.
Luxottica — which owns luxury brands Ray Ban, Oakley, and Persol, and licenses Chanel and Tiffany — hopes its partnership with Intel will create unique devices. Chief executive Massimo Vian told Reuters, “We’ve started to work on sensors which can detect, say, temperature or location.” The first Intel-Luxottica product is expected next year.