Up until this point, the Mountain View company has been pretty clear that Glass isn’t a product for everyone - all the way from its high price point to the fact that it was impossible for the masses to get one without an invite. In fact, Google had touted the device to be for explorers primarily - people living their lives on the edge and daring to do what others usually don’t. Well, all of that is changing now, as the Glass Store has been opened to everyone interested in getting their hands on the rather expensive and catchy eyewear!
Whichever way you look at it, Google Street View is a staggering example of modern technology and the world in which we live in. The Maps and Street View team at Google have accumulated photos and imagery of over six million miles' worth of road around the world, all of which is pretty much immediately accessible online through mobile or desktop browsers and native apps. That level of achievement deserves to be applauded but it seems Google isn't stopping there. In an effort to allow users to "time travel" the company is enhancing the Street View service by adding all of its archived footage to allow time lapse experiences at specific locations.
Google is always looking to update and improve its Android operating system, and while often, these changes can take the form of significant enhancements, the Big G also likes to make subtle adjustments that enhance the user interface. Just last week, a leaked screenshot gave us a potential insight into some icon adjustments set to arrive with the much talked-about Android 4.5, and now, the official Google Nexus Twitter handle has accidentally leaked a modified, bluer Dialer app.
If you applied for the opportunity to hand over $900 to Google in exchange for a ticket to its Google I/O 2014 conference then now's the time to start checking your email inbox, because the company has started sending out confirmation emails to those that have been selected to attend.
Google's Glass Project has come along in leaps and bounds over the past year, and even though Team Glass only recently pushed through an update packing some great new features, a couple more have just been added. As revealed in a post on the Project's official Google+ page, there's now SMS support for those on the Apple iPhone, and additionally, the new Calendar Glassware feature allows Explorers to edit, delete and RSVP events from the agenda with ease. Full details can be seen right after the break.
Even though, as time goes on, it's difficult to see exactly where Google Glass will fit into the consumer side of the market, part of us is still glad that the project is in development. Cool and uncool in equal measure, it would seem, it has proven a polarizing topic of debate that every tech fan has, at some point, discussed with their peers. Every so often, an eye-opening development is made in relation to Glass bordering on the bizarre, serving to remind us that we're dealing with a technology that could significantly alter the way we interact with each other and the world around us, and Emotient has certainly done that with its new Sentiment Analysis app.
Security is a hot button topic right now, and with good reason. With government agencies trying to scoop your data just as much as the cyber criminals we're all told keep sniffing our credit card details, gone are the days of simply burying our heads in the sand and hoping it'll all be OK.
Along with Project Ara, Project Glass, and all of the other exciting innovations that Google has going right now, the company's Advanced Technologies and Projects (ATAP) team also took the wraps off Project Tango back in February. The aim of Project Tango's mapping technology is to allow common devices such as smartphones to perceive space, objects and movements in the manner that humans do, and in order to really test the resolve of its emerging invention, the Mountain View-based company has teamed up with NASA for some zero-gravity testing.
One of the lingering questions encircling the initial excitement around Google's Glass project was just how it was going to support wearers of prescription lenses. After all, it seems a rather twisted irony that, so far, the majority of folks able to fully enjoy the Explorer Edition of Google Glass have been those who don't usually wear glasses. But the Big G has been working on a solution for some time, and having rolled out the Titanium Collection back in January, is now offering a try-before-you-buy option to prospective Explorers.
As much as we all love and treasure our mobile devices, we also love it when an individual or company creates and uploads a video that shows a device being pushed to its physical limits.
