With Google having updated its Google Glass software, the announcement that iPhone text messages and a new calendar app are en route, has the Explorers ready and excited about the progress the company is having with their wearable tech product. It also comes a week after Google allowed average citizens to purchase Glass in a one-day only sale on April 15.
The move is expected to generate more attention for the product, which has become controversial among the general public over issues pertaining to privacy. Even Explorers in San Francisco have been barred from wearing the glasses into restaurants and bars after guests complained over others wearing the devices, which allow for video recording.
Now, however, iOS users are able to display text messages directly into view on the Glass by tweaking the Bluetooth settings.
But Google says that this new feature will have a few limitations, including the inability to reply to messages directly from the Glass headset.
Google said they plan to continue development and will roll out new functions as the product aims to be sold to the general public later this year or by next year.
The update Glass went through in April is seen as a jumping off point for future innovation with the product.
"It's not a change you can see, but it brings improved battery life and makes Glass more reliable and easier to update in the future," Google wrote. "And now that Glass runs Android KitKat, developers can write Glassware using the latest Android SDK goodness, along with new features from our GDK."
This new update also aims to streamline content based on a user's timeline, which could allow users to swipe away updates in the timeline and images they have viewed previously or do not need any longer, which could give more viewing space to users, something Explorers had previously brought up to Google.
Although some users were frustrated, even sad, by the company's discontinuation of the video-streaming application, the company did announce that the drop may not be permanent as developers continue to work on the video chat option.
"We hold ourselves to high standards for the features that we build, and video calls aren't living up to these standards. Explorers have told us so directly, and fewer than 10% of them use video calls. For this reason, we've made the hard decision to remove video calls from Glass until the experience is better. We don't know when that will be, but in the meantime, keep an eye on MyGlass as more Glassware is built and released," the company stated.
Google had only released the product for iOS last year.
