google glass

Sergey Brin stormed on the stage in his Google Glasses like Iron Man Tony Stark, prepared to give the crowd of 5,500 developers what he called an "awesome" display of technology and daredevil live action.

He gave the play-by-play as a troop of skydivers, bikers, and rope rappellers converged on the Moscone convention center, in a scene that could have been the opening sequence of a "Mission: Impossible" movie (if it wasn't part of Brin's Google I/O Glass demo). 

The skydivers made jumping out of an airship look easy. But before … Read more

Thursday's big headlines still have us basking in the Google gadget glow:

Google co-founder Sergey Brin says he envisions consumers buying Google Glass by 2014, just a year after developers get to experiment with the version called Explorer Edition. Right now only bleeding-edge techies at the Google I/O conference get to preorder the augmented reality glasses for $1,500. But once those models ship next year, it wouldn't surprise me to see some being sold for high prices on eBay.

Already, someone from the conference is selling the attendee freebie Nexus 7 tablet on eBay, if you … Read more

It could be a few years before the rest of us get the chance to take our own pair of Google Glass skydiving.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin told Bloomberg that the "Explorer Edition" of Project Glass will be delivered to developers next year and made available to the general public a year after that -- that means 2014. … Read more

After a small press conference at Google I/O, cofounder Sergey Brin let a few writers try on his pair of Google Glasses. I took a spin in them.

The glasses were locked into "demo mode," Brin said. The only image visible from my perspective was a video loop of fireworks. The image was just above my normal line of sight, and quite small, about the size of a postage stamp.

The glasses have a compass and an accelerometer in them, and as my head moved, the perspective in the video panned as well. … Read more

Day one of Google I/O 2012 hasn't lacked for news, from introduction of the $199 Nexus 7 tablet to a significant OS update in the form of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to a heart-stopping live demo of Google Glass via chute-gliding, rappelling and biking.

And CNET has video of it all. Enjoy.

Google redesigns mobile search

A first taste of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Unveiling the $199 Nexus 7 tablet

The Nexus Q, a disco ball that streams music and video

Skydive with Google Glasses! No, rappell with them! No, bike!

Google Glass hits the market … Read more

In a press conference at Google I/O, Google's Sergey Brin said the idea of Google Glasses was to make users, "less a slave to your device." You won't have to reach into your pocket for simple notifications or to take a picture, he said.

"It's not for reading a book," he said, "although you could do that. It's for catching a text, or a picture.... I just took one of you now."

While a pair of Google Glasses will be tethered to a smartphone when out and about, Brin … Read more

You know what sucks about visiting Google? Seeing the Google Glasses but not being able to try them yourself. Thanks a lot, Vic.

But we are, slowly, learning more about this project. In particular, the prototypes that are appearing in the field, on TV, and in tantalizing interviews with online journalists are not capable of displaying the full-on, in-your-face type of augmented reality that 15 million people have seen in Google's demo video (and all the spoofs).

While Google+ chief Vic Gundotra didn't say much about the Glasses during an interview this morning, a later discussion with another spokesperson confirmed that the popular prototype model, as seen on Gundotra as well as Google X Lab founder Sebastian Thrun in a Charlie Rose interview, shows information above the wearer's usual line of sight, "about where the edge of an umbrella might be." … Read more

Oakley may be hoping to out-glass Google with its own brand of eyewear that can display information directly on the lenses.

The company's CEO Colin Baden told Bloomberg that it's creating technology to tie smartphone features into eyewear. The project is still in the experimental stage, and Baden wouldn't confirm if Oakley plans to launch its own such eyewear. But he did reveal a few features he'd like to see in the product.

The eyewear would work on its own to display information but also team up with a smartphone through Bluetooth. The device could even … Read more

The Defense Department has reportedly ordered augmented-reality displays from startup Innovega, only a week after Google disclosed its own augmented-reality project.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Innovega has signed a contract to supply the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with a prototype of its iOptik spectacles and accompanying contact lenses, Innovega's CEO Steve Willey told the BBC. The augmented-reality system could improve the awareness of soldiers in the field, he said.

The contact lenses have a filter that allows a person to focus on images at a very close distance and focus on far-away objects at the same time. That … Read more