While Google Glass went to ground near the close of last year, Google never officially eulogized the augmented reality glasses. Now, a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing hints that Glass has truly been hiding out in some underground bunker and isn't buried.
Google is seeking clearance from the FCC for a product that sounds a lot like Google Glass. The curious filling, not declared as a smartphone or tablet, was spotted by the good folk at DroidLife.
The search engine company asked the FCC to withhold from the public the product's schematics, theory of operation, antenna specification and block diagram, but the very name of the product picks Glass out of a lineup of past and presently possible Google devices.
It's hard to look past the "A," "R" and "GG" in the products name, and it isn't a stretch to suss out "augmented reality" and Google Glass out of "A4R-GG1." If that isn't enough evidence, the product's specs, and the likely reason for approaching the FCC, also spell Google Glass when the missing letters are filled in.
While Google kept as much secret as it could, it still revealed several details about A4R-GG1. The product includes 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a non-user serviceable battery.
Thanks to the FCC's e-labeling, the filing reveals that the product will have a display of sorts. The filing offers no details about the display. It merely indicates the product has one.
The document doesn't mention cellular radio. That isn't enough to rule out a new smartphone—details of which may have been withheld—but it certainly is evidence against one.
This all looks and smells like Google Glass, but the Mountain View, Calif. company did make it possible to definitively declare A4R-GG1 is the next version of its AR glasses.
Again, Google never buried Glass. Google, at the end of a quiet year for Glass, announced that it was looking to hop foundries and was turning to Intel to power the next version of the glasses.
Despite asserting that Glass was graduating as opposed to dying, there were many who rang the death knell for the smart eyewear. With a $1,700 price tag, it's hard to blame the early adopters for giving up on Glass.
