Friday, January 16, 2015

Google "graduated" Glass from Google[x] labs

Since I'm a Google Glass "explorer" I got an e-mail from Google:

Hi there,

It’s been an exciting ride. Since we first met, interest in wearables has exploded and today it’s one of the most exciting areas in technology. We asked you to be pioneers, and you took Glass further than we ever expected. We’ve learned a ton, we’ve "graduated" from Google[x] labs, and now we’re hard at work and you’ll see future versions of Glass when they’re ready.
Since we’re focusing all our efforts on the future, we’ll be closing the Explorer Program on January 19. We realize you might have questions about what this means for you. New feature development on the Explorer Edition will stop while we work on the next version of Glass, but you can still call or email us anytime with questions, thoughts or feedback.
In the meantime, we’ve created Glass Vol 001 to honor you, our Explorers. It’s a collection of photos and stories from the early days of Glass.

The Explorer Program was started to get Glass into the hands of early pioneers who would forge the way. You’ve taken Glass to the edges of the world, from the streets of New York to the tundras of Antarctica. You’ve captured miracles every day, from your wedding vows and your child’s first steps to new ways to save lives. You’ve humbled us by taking what we started and doing more than we ever could have dreamed. Let’s celebrate your bold and brave steps into an uncharted world.
Thank you for being part of the story. We’ll see you in the next chapter.

The Glass Team

---End email from Google ---

Usually when products "graduate" from Google[x] labs a production version is made available but Google said, "you’ll see future versions of Glass when they’re ready". So many are skeptical about the future of Google Glass.

Source: The Telegraph

Despite having been in development for over three years, Google Glass is still officially a prototype.

Babak Parviz, the architect behind Google Glass, announced he was leaving the company for a job as vice president at Amazon. Two key Google Glass executives – Adrian Wong, chief of electrical engineering, and Ossama Alami, director of developer relations – also departed.

Meanwhile, several companies, including Twitter, stopped working on apps for Google Glass. In a straw poll of 16 Glass app makers by Reuters in November, nine said that they had stopped work on their projects or abandoned them, mostly because of the lack of customers or limitations of the device.