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Google: Check out our new Glassware like Tumblr

Several new apps, including Facebook, Twitter, and Evernote, are now available for Google Glass.

Shara Tibken Former managing editor
Shara Tibken was a managing editor at CNET News, overseeing a team covering tech policy, EU tech, mobile and the digital divide. She previously covered mobile as a senior reporter at CNET and also wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Shara is a native Midwesterner who still prefers "pop" over "soda."
Shara Tibken
3 min read
Seven new apps are now available for Google Glass, including Twitter and Facebook. Screenshot by Bridget Carey/CNET
Google Glass just got a lot more interesting.

Google on Thursday unveiled several new apps -- or "Glassware," as it calls them -- for its wearable computing device. The apps include Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Evernote, CNN, and Elle and join the apps already available from The New York Times and Path. The new apps are currently available to Glass owners.

While the apps have limited functionality compared with their mobile and Web versions, many companies noted the first release is only the start of what their Glass apps will soon offer.

"We believe that wearables are the next frontier in consumer technology," Evernote's Andrew Sinkov said in a blog post. "Today, you're getting a glimpse of simple and useful ways that Evernote can be used with Google Glass. This is only the beginning."

The news came during Google's developer conference, Google I/O, in San Francisco. The confab made headlines around the world last year with the surprise debut of Google's wearable, Internet-enabled Glass via an extreme sports spectacle. Since that time, Google has released Glass to a limited number of people in its "Explorer" program, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin has said that pricing and availability of Google Glass will be announced by the end of the year.

While Google's Internet-connected eyewear has generated a lot of buzz, it's still too early to know if it will take off. But an increasing number of apps, while often limited in functionality, is a good sign. Along with the software announced Thursday, many more developers are working on creating apps for Glass. And Google also confirmed it has video streaming and a development kit for Glass in the works.

Facebook's app allows users to upload photos from Google Glass directly to their Facebook timeline and add descriptions just by saying the information out loud. Twitter's app lets people tweet photos and text, as well as reply to, retweet, or "favorite" tweets and notifications.

Timothy Jordan, senior developer advocate for Project Glass, talks up the headset on the second day of Google I/O 2013. Seth Rosenblatt/CNET
The Evernote app currently includes a couple of features for users. They can quickly capture photos or short videos and send them to their Evernote account from the Google Glass sharing menu. They also can choose a note from Evernote Web and send it directly into the Glass Timeline so it's available in their field of view when needed.

CNN Glass users can set up different news alerts and the time they'll receive those, such as getting only sports news at 7 a.m., and they can either read stories or listen to summaries, as well as view photos and watch video clips. A CNN representative noted that the app was developed as an experiment by Turner's emerging technologies group to learn how early adopters use and interact with news on the device.

And Elle, the magazine owned by Hearst, curates content from Elle's most widely read and shared sections. Users can browse headlines and photos, as well as share stories with friends, listen to posts out loud, or save them to be read later.

"Google Glass encourages us to think about our content in a new way," Hearst Chief Technology Officer Phil Wiser said in a press release.

Tumblr users, meanwhile, can check out updates from their dashboard, as well as post content such as photos and video.

We've contacted Google and the various app makers and will update the report when we have more information.

Heads-on with Google Glass (pictures)

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Update, 1:45 p.m. PT: Adds comment from CNN.