A New & Improved Google Glass Is Coming But It Won't Be Available For Ordinary Customers To Buy

The first Google Glass was supposed to be the next big thing in AR. It failed to live up to the hype. But Google hasn't given up on it yet. Oh no, sir!

In a masterstroke of subtlety, Google¡¯s parent company Alphabet has just announced a brand new device available. Or rather, an old device in a brand new form. The Google Glass is back once more, this time in a from they¡¯re calling the Enterprise Edition.

Alphabet

When the Google Glass first debuted at the company¡¯s I/O event in 2012, it didn¡¯t receive a particularly warm welcome. Those enthusiastic to try it out felt it failed to deliver on its promises when it launched a year later. Meanwhile, other people had their own comments. Notwithstanding how ridiculous a Glass user would look staring into the distance in public, most people worried about interacting with them. After all, how would they know when their personal conversations were being recorded?

Exciting though the technology was, it was just too scary and too incapable to take root in the consumer electronics market. Eventually, the project went dark in January 2015, with most assuming Google had just killed off the project. However, that wasn¡¯t the case.

However Alphabet¡¯s X division (which pursues experimental projects like this one, and Aria) just revealed in a Medium post that it actually continued development on the device, working with various industry partners to change the Google Glass¡¯ entire mission.

The Google Glass Enterprise Edition has a more powerful processor than the original, obviously scaled up for modern day requirements. It¡¯s 5MP camera has been improved to 8MP, and the battery life lasts for close to eight hours, up from the earlier five hour limit. The camera button also now doubles as a trigger to detach the device from a frame, allowing you to easily use it with prescription or safety glasses.

All that being said, the Google Glass looks the same as its predecessor, with it¡¯s tiny transparent display. The major difference now though, is that it¡¯s aimed at industrial uses. ¡°Workers in many fields, like manufacturing, logistics, field services, and healthcare find it useful to consult a wearable device for information and other resources while their hands are busy,¡± project lead Jay Kothari wrote. ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯ve spent the last two years working closely with a network of more than 30 expert partners to build customised software and business solutions for Glass for people in these fields.¡±

This time around, the Google Glass will be sold through a range of specialised software companies, that will bundle it with their own services for logistics and manufacturing.