Google Glass Will Be a Smartphone in Eyewear Form

Now that the initial rave has passed, Google is finding itself hard-pressed to prevent its fans and customers from being disillusioned with the device concept, hence the recent Google+ Hangout.

For those who don't know, the people who pre-ordered the Google Glass project at I/O in June got to participate in a special Hangout session hosted on Monday, July 30, 2012.

Unfortunately, nothing actually came of it. Google instructed participants to open their own Hangouts and talk about Project Glass and what they would like to see in it. Alas, this only confounded people who signed up, as they were hoping Google would actually reveal something, which it did not.

Everything turned chaotic and awkward eventually, and there wasn't really anything new for anyone to learn.

Fortunately, some information did slip through the cracks. A user on Reddit posted a (short) list of what Glass would allow owners to do.

The most important words are that Glass will be similar to "a high end smartphone like Galaxy Nexus without the cellular radio." Thus, people who feared the glasses won't be more than a wearable camera can put that fear to rest at last.

The user also revealed that Glass will be loaded with some cloud syncing APIs different from the ones on Android cellular phones and tablets.

Third, users will have access to all the sensors and non-cellular sensors present on the Nexus, with the added benefit of the ability to flash the software (Glass will be an open device apparently).

Finally, Google expects software developers to come up with unique app ideas and concepts through experimentation with the Explorer edition.

In conclusion, Google's Glass will, indeed, be more than just a head-mounted camera with Wi-Fi support. All we have left to hope for is that the price won't be too high (pre-orders of the Google Glass Explorer Edition cost $1,500 / 1,226 Euro at Google’s I/O event).