Have some extra money to kill and want to join an exclusive group of "Explorers?" If that's the case, then April 15 is your day. Google is to sell its controversial new technology, Google Glass, for one day only and the price tag is not small.
Just like those who won the chance to wear Glass before the general population, this product will run more than $1,000, but the company is still expected to sell a large number during the one-day sale. It comes as Google continues to push the product amidst a number of reported incidents when Explorers -- as Google calls its customers with Glass -- enter public places, including bars and restaurants.
The idea with the one-day sale is to continue to market the product to the public as researchers and programmers fine-tune the device to make it ready for everyday sales. The company says that it wants to ensure the product has all the software needed to have multiple uses.
The sale begins at 9 AM Eastern Daylight Time, and it's first come, first served.
"We're expanding little by little, and experimenting with different ways of bringing new Explorers into the program," Google said on the Google Glass news page.
Google is pushing the product as a great business or office solution that enables users to have others in the same facility or from away relay imagery and video back to the office for analysis. This is part of the company's overall PR push to create a sense of a softer, less-intrusive use for the product after privacy concerns were raised.
Glass at Work was announced earlier this month by Google, and formalizes new strategies for the product that a number of first users had already established and discussed in the pilot phase.
Google has seen the Glass used in sporting events to give fans an eye-level view of what the players are seeing and has promoted it as a way of going beyond simple eye vision. While Glass at Work is going forward, dealing with and converting much of the public toward the new technology seems to be an uphill battle, but one Google hopes it can overcome through education and speaking directly to the public.
Google says it plans to sell the Glass to all the public this year for around $1,500.
