Apple Reportedly Worked On Google Glass Like Eyewear, But “Didn’t Have Time”

Google’s Project Glass has caused quite a bit of a stir since it’s announcement last year, and with plenty of developers having sampled the technology and demonstrated what it’s capable of via Google Glass Explorer Edition, we’re excited for its eventual release early next year. But while Google appears unchallenged by its biggest rivals when it comes to this new technology, it has been revealed that Apple considered such device, and although it reached prototype stage, the Cupertino company simply could not find the time to take things any further.

The wearable tech market is certainly booming these last couple of years, with Samsung having only just taken the wraps of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, and with Apple also said to be working on an iWatch as we speak, the biggest names are clearly looking to drape us in as much digital goodness as they can come up with.

But while the iWatch speculation seems fairly legitimate at this point, we’d no idea that Apple was ever considering something like Google Glass. Yet one of the company’s former senior vice presidents Tony Fadell, currently CEO of thermostat outfit Nest, has revealed that Apple had toyed around with said technology prior to 2008, at which point he left the company.

Considering Apple had introduced the iconic first iPhone back in 2007, it’s no wonder Apple had to draw the line on how much work it could put in, and as Fadell explains, other, more successful products had to take priority: “I built a bunch of those prototypes," he said, "but we had such success with the things we were already doing that we didn’t have time.”

Of course, it may well be that the project has been put on ice, and Fadell doesn’t exactly discount this in any of his statements. He added that the prototypes were “more like [a] virtual reality headset,” but with Google now making quite a bit of progress, a revisit to augmented reality may not be entirely beyond the realms of possibility.

I guess it all depends on whether Glass manages to make a successful entrance to market. We’re excited about it because it’s completely new and innovative, but with plenty in the know suggesting it’s not a consumer product, it will be interesting to see whether they are proved right or wrong.

(Source: FastCompany)

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