17
Jun
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Google Glass Explorer Edition Review: A Beta Product From The Future

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Posted by in Glass, Google, Reviews

Google Glass is an extraordinary device. Like the Apple II, the Palm Pilot, and the first iPhone, Glass is a category-defining product that will quickly become the template for all other devices of its type going forward. It's the kind of device that will have a place in a computer history museum.

As a technology journalist, I often cover innovative devices, or exciting devices, or devices destined to sell millions, but how often, going in, can you say "This is a device of historical significance?" Wearable computing has arrived. While Glass might not be the very first of its kind, it's the first good one of its kind.

15
Jun
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Google's 1-Pound Mystery Gift To Glass Explorers Isn't A Free Phone, Or Keys To A Self-Driving Car, It's...

Posted by in Glass, News

Last week there was a bit of hubbub among the still-tiny population of Google Glass users, after Google sent out packages to the Explorer program. A few of them spotted UPS packages coming in through the My UPS service, and speculation ran wild. What could this 1-pound package be? A free Nexus 4? Keys to one of Google's self-driving cars? A golden ticket for admittance to the Google X Dream Factory?

Nope. It's a water bottle.

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Just a water bottle. Nothing smart (or even mildly clever) about it: open the top, put some water in, and drink it. Glass user Jason Alvarez posted these photos to Imgur, showing off the sweet new hardware and a hand-written note from the Glass team.

04
Jun
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Google Posts Glass XE6 Factory Image For Your Flashing Pleasure

Posted by in Glass, Google, News

The Google Glass Explorer program is all about experimentation, hacking, and learning. With that in mind, Google has already posted the factory image for the XE6 update from earlier today. Hooray for openness! You know... if you're lucky enough to be in the super-exclusive Explorer program.

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04
Jun
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Google Glass Receiving XE6 Update With Massive Photo Quality Improvements - Here Is The Full Changelog

Posted by in Glass, Google, News

Google is pushing a new monthly update to Glass owners with some pretty incredible improvements to photo captures along with a few other not as exciting things. The update follows version XE5 from May 8th and, as you might have guessed, is numbered XE6.

Here is the full changelog provided to us by the Glass team:

Google Glass update version XE6:

  • Better photos through Glass
  • Voice annotate your photos and videos when sharing
  • Improvements to On-Head Detection. Please re-calibrate to enable the improvements.
  • Improved cards in Google Now for Sports, and a new card for Birthdays
  • Fixes for several issues

Additionally, we were able to dig up the following (thanks, Russell Holly):

  • New sound when taking Glass off

So what are these amazing improvements to photo-taking?

31
May
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Google Glass Team Says Facial Recognition Apps Will Not Be Approved, But Can They Stop Anyone From Using One?

Posted by in Glass, Google, News

It was only a matter of time before the first facial recognition project for Google Glass was started. That project was announced earlier this week by Lambda Labs, and the Google Glass team has now backed away from the technology on Google+. According to the post, Google won't approve any "Glassware" utilizing facial recognition due to privacy concerns. The key word here is approve.

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27
May
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Lambda Labs Releasing Facial Recognition API For Google Glass This Week (Whether You're Ready For It Or Not)

Posted by in Glass, Google, News

Lambda Labs, a small start-up out of San Francisco, is set to drag us kicking and screaming into the dystopian sci-fi future we all knew was coming. Okay, that might be overstating the point, but the company has announced its intention to release a facial recognition API for Google Glass this week. Should this pan out, you'll always have to wonder if that fellow wearing Google Glass remembered your name, kid's age, and occupation because he has a good memory, or because the cloud told him.

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The Lambda Labs facial recognition API has been in operation since last year, and is currently used by about 1,000 developers.

24
May
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Google Glass's Hidden Labs Features - 'OK Glass' Everywhere, Web Browsing, Video Stabilization, And More [Video]

Posted by in Glass, News

Google Glass is very much an experimental piece of hardware and it turns out the software has been built with that ethos in mind, too. With root and a few carefully-crafted ADB commands, you can enable a ton of experimental features the Google has built into the Glass software.

Over on Github, Zhuowei Zhang has posted the whole list of Glass Labs features, and how to enable them. Zhuowei isn't a Glass explorer though, so it's been up to me to be the guinea pig and actually try this stuff.

Check these out:

AUTO_SHARE_TARGETS("AUTO_SHARE_TARGETS", 26, false),
BLUETOOTH_HEADSET("BLUETOOTH_HEADSET", 10, true),
CALL_NOISE_CANCEL("CALL_NOISE_CANCEL", 25, false),
CLIPLET("CLIPLET", 4, false),
COMPANION_API("COMPANION_API", 35, false),
DEBUG_LAUNCHER("DEBUG_LAUNCHER", 11, false),
DEV_SERVERS("DEV_SERVERS", 18, false),
DING_ON_LOAD("DING_ON_LOAD", 31, false),
DISABLE_GAZE_ON_MIC("DISABLE_GAZE_ON_MIC", 32, true),
GCAM("GCAM", 0, false),
GPS_DEBUG_CARD("GPS_DEBUG_CARD", 20, false),
GPS_IN_BACKGROUND("GPS_IN_BACKGROUND", 21, false),
HO_BG_WAITING("HO_BG_WAITING", 5, false),
HO_USE_SVC("HO_USE_SVC", 3, true),
KANNADI_DEV_SERVER("KANNADI_DEV_SERVER", 14, false),
LOG_NEG_SENSORY_REC("LOG_NEG_SENSORY_REC", 8, false),
LOG_POS_SENSORY_REC("LOG_POS_SENSORY_REC", 7, true),
LONG_TAP_TO_SEARCH("LONG_TAP_TO_SEARCH", 33, true),
LONG_TAP_UI_SEARCH("LONG_TAP_UI_SEARCH", 34, true),
NATIVE_APP_VOICE("NATIVE_APP_VOICE", 28, false),
NAV_CONTAMINATE_FIX("NAV_CONTAMINATE_FIX", 42, false),
NAV_NO_COMPANION("NAV_NO_COMPANION", 23, true),
NAV_USE_LOCAL_GPS("NAV_USE_LOCAL_GPS", 22, false),
OK_GLASS_EVERYWHERE("OK_GLASS_EVERYWHERE", 24, false),
PHONE_AEC_LOG("PHONE_AEC_LOG", 41, false),
PRODUCTION_SERVERS("PRODUCTION_SERVERS", 15, true),
QUICK_QR_CODE("QUICK_QR_CODE", 36, false),
SAVE_AUDIO("SAVE_AUDIO", 6, false),
SEARCH_DEV_SERVER("SEARCH_DEV_SERVER", 12, false),
SEARCH_FEEDBACK("SEARCH_FEEDBACK", 9, false),
SEARCH_GWS_FLOW("SEARCH_GWS_FLOW", 40, false),
SEARCH_TEST_SERVER("SEARCH_TEST_SERVER", 13, false),
SHORT_TIMELINE_POLL("SHORT_TIMELINE_POLL", 38, false),
SMS_FROM_VOICE_MENU("SMS_FROM_VOICE_MENU", 29, true),
STAGING_SERVERS("STAGING_SERVERS", 16, false),
TESTING_SERVERS("TESTING_SERVERS", 17, true),
THIRD_PARTY_VOICE("THIRD_PARTY_VOICE", 27, false),
TOUCH_VOICE_MENU("TOUCH_VOICE_MENU", 39, false),
UPLOAD_SESSION_MNGR("UPLOAD_SESSION_MNGR", 19, false),
VSTAB("VSTAB", 1, false),
VSTAB_CALIBRATION("VSTAB_CALIBRATION", 2, false),
WEB_BROWSING("WEB_BROWSING", 30, false),
WINK("WINK", 37, false);

All of these are properties that go in Glass's build.prop file, in the form of "persist.lab.[NAME]=true".

24
May
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Google Creates Dedicated Developer Page For Glass System Images And Kernels - XE5 Image And Pre-Rooted Bootloader Already Posted

Posted by in Development, Glass, Google, News

Shhhh. Listen closely. Do you hear that? It's the sound of thousands of developers and modders salivating. Though the system images for Google Glass have been available for some time (thanks in no small part to this humble establishment), Google has decided to take the guesswork out of backups and modifications for their wearable tech. The Google Developers website has a brand new Downloads section for Glass, complete with the latest factory image (XE5) and a bootloader. The latter even comes pre-rooted - because Google knows its audience.

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Google has also posted the source code for the current Glass kernel to its corporate Git hub, GoogleSource.com.

17
May
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Google Glass FAQ Updated To Permit Loaning Explorer Edition Unit, Still Forbids Selling As It Is Not "In The Explorer Spirit"

Posted by in Glass, Google, News

Just ask our own Ron Amadeo and he'll tell you there are a myriad of reasons Google Glass isn't like other computing devices. It changes the way you interact with data and contextual information, but it's also not a true consumer product just yet. The Google Glass Explorer Edition was released with a number of caveats, including the stipulation that owners were forbidden from selling or loaning the device to someone else. Well, Google has lightened up a little on that last count. The FAQ has been tweaked to allow sharing your Explorer Edition.

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Google's original FAQ clearly stated that users were not permitted to "resell, loan, transfer or give [Google Glass] to any other person." That's a little totalitarian, even for what is essentially a developer device.

16
May
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Google Glass Getting Social Media, News, and Productivity Apps, Becoming More Useful Every Day

Posted by in Apps/Games, Glass, News

Ah, Google Glass. Though the venerable headset has a lot of potential, it has yet to become something people want to use all the time. If you're a social media addict, a news junkie, or a productivity pro, though, Google's heads-up computer just got a lot more compelling. Today at I/O, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, CNN, Elle, and Evernote pledged to support Glass by releasing official applications - "glassware," as Google calls them. Facebook's app is available now.

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The social media apps do what you'd expect: post pictures and text. Facebook's app allows users to upload photos to their timelines and add descriptions with voice.

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