Android By Russell Holly Feb. 12, 2014 12:00 pm
I can say, with some certainty, that there has never been an experience quite like Google Glass before. And I don’t simply mean a computer with a glass prism that projects an image into your eye, rather I’m referring the entire project to date. The journey from a fantastic, partially vaporware video on YouTube to a crazy skydiving demonstration to the tens-of-thousands-strong Explorer program today has been a wholly unique and almost entirely public.
It feels strange to be sitting here writing about a piece of technology that I have had in my possession for almost a year that comparatively few people have ever seen in person, let alone touched. All the same, this device has become a significant part of my day-to-day life, so it felt important to update my initial impressions of this device with everything I have learned along the way.
[h=3]Almost a year with Glass[/h]When I first stepped out of the Google Glass space in NYC’s Chelsea Market, right across the street from Google’s New York office, I had a number of concerns. Google didn’t seem to have any plans for those of us with prescription lenses, and my attempts to warp the titanium nose pieces over my existing frames had made the headset difficult for anyone else to wear comfortably. The interface was almost entirely text-based, the Bluetooth connection with my HTC One was questionable on good days (occasionally requiring a total reset just to pair again), and the battery had dropped 35% on the 20 minute walk to Penn Station.
On top of all that, I was walking around with a foreign piece of technology on my face, which initially caused a heightened sense of self-awareness that bordered paranoia whenever someone looked at me. By the time I got home on that first day I was filled with equal parts excitement about this headfirst dive into something new and dread that I had just spent $1600 on a mistake.
If it weren’t obvious by now, the dread wore off quickly and I began to enjoy an ever-evolving piece of technology.
Just as promised when the hardware was first announced, Google has released monthly updates to Glass. Each update brought about new features, bug fixes, battery life improvements, and even a dramatic update to the quality of images the simple 5MP camera takes. Everything about Glass has changed, even the physical hardware now that version two units have been shipped to nearly every Explorer in exchange for the originals.
There are prescription frames for Glass now, and the apps for both iOS and Android offer strong Bluetooth connections that even make solid video chats possible. To have experienced the initial release of Google Glass and to experience the same device now may as well be entirely different products, because every facet of what the user can see and do has changed since those early days.
Currently I am wearing Google Glass for the majority of my day. I used to take it off when I was writing because the combination of glasses, Glass, and headphones caused unnecessary trouble behind my right ear. Now that the prescription frames are a part of the experience, it’s much more comfortable to wear throughout the day. The frames rest on a hook by my bed where they charge overnight, and in the morning they are the first thing I reach for after turning the alarm off on my phone.
Because I am constantly trying out new apps from developers that haven’t yet made it to the Glass store, my battery life is often all over the place. In fact, the nature of apps like Google Hangouts make it hard for me to issue a blanket statement about battery life. When Glass was first made available, the battery would last for roughly 45 minutes of screen on time. Currently that is a lot closer to two hours unless you’re trying to record video, watch YouTube, or participate in a video Hangout. It is dramatically improved over the initial release, but your mileage is going to be very different than anyone else’s.
Next page: Everyday life with Glass…
More...
It feels strange to be sitting here writing about a piece of technology that I have had in my possession for almost a year that comparatively few people have ever seen in person, let alone touched. All the same, this device has become a significant part of my day-to-day life, so it felt important to update my initial impressions of this device with everything I have learned along the way.
[h=3]Almost a year with Glass[/h]When I first stepped out of the Google Glass space in NYC’s Chelsea Market, right across the street from Google’s New York office, I had a number of concerns. Google didn’t seem to have any plans for those of us with prescription lenses, and my attempts to warp the titanium nose pieces over my existing frames had made the headset difficult for anyone else to wear comfortably. The interface was almost entirely text-based, the Bluetooth connection with my HTC One was questionable on good days (occasionally requiring a total reset just to pair again), and the battery had dropped 35% on the 20 minute walk to Penn Station.
On top of all that, I was walking around with a foreign piece of technology on my face, which initially caused a heightened sense of self-awareness that bordered paranoia whenever someone looked at me. By the time I got home on that first day I was filled with equal parts excitement about this headfirst dive into something new and dread that I had just spent $1600 on a mistake.
If it weren’t obvious by now, the dread wore off quickly and I began to enjoy an ever-evolving piece of technology.
Just as promised when the hardware was first announced, Google has released monthly updates to Glass. Each update brought about new features, bug fixes, battery life improvements, and even a dramatic update to the quality of images the simple 5MP camera takes. Everything about Glass has changed, even the physical hardware now that version two units have been shipped to nearly every Explorer in exchange for the originals.
There are prescription frames for Glass now, and the apps for both iOS and Android offer strong Bluetooth connections that even make solid video chats possible. To have experienced the initial release of Google Glass and to experience the same device now may as well be entirely different products, because every facet of what the user can see and do has changed since those early days.
Currently I am wearing Google Glass for the majority of my day. I used to take it off when I was writing because the combination of glasses, Glass, and headphones caused unnecessary trouble behind my right ear. Now that the prescription frames are a part of the experience, it’s much more comfortable to wear throughout the day. The frames rest on a hook by my bed where they charge overnight, and in the morning they are the first thing I reach for after turning the alarm off on my phone.
Because I am constantly trying out new apps from developers that haven’t yet made it to the Glass store, my battery life is often all over the place. In fact, the nature of apps like Google Hangouts make it hard for me to issue a blanket statement about battery life. When Glass was first made available, the battery would last for roughly 45 minutes of screen on time. Currently that is a lot closer to two hours unless you’re trying to record video, watch YouTube, or participate in a video Hangout. It is dramatically improved over the initial release, but your mileage is going to be very different than anyone else’s.
Next page: Everyday life with Glass…
More...
