Google Glass is still about a year away from consumer release
With the invites to Google’s Glass Explorer program having been recently released, and beta devices shipping, people seem to be more excited than ever about Glass. Unboxings are showing up on YouTube, images taken with Google Glass are showing up on Google+, and it generally seems like the public, or at least the tech crowd, is really interested in Google’s new invention. Sadly, it looks like those of us who are quite interested in Google Glass, but missed the Explorer program, may have to wait quite a while to get our hands on Google Glass.
More specifically, it is fairly certain that the commercial release of Google Glass won’t happen until at least the beginning of next year. Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt (who is not pictured above, that is Sergey Brin) specifically said in an interview that Glass’s consumer release “is probably a year-ish away.” While this isn’t binding, it does give us a general indication of the release timeframe, and the general state of the project with regards to a consumer release.
For those who were hoping to see Google Glass released at Google I/O, this is sure to be somewhat disappointing news, although I don’t think very many expect a full release less than a month after the Explore devices have shipped. Still, I don’t doubt that there are some people who were hoping to buy Google Glass later this year, before the holidays, or even simply forgot about the Explorer program deadline who will be disappointed at the long wait for a commercial version of Glass.
Even so, it is understandable that Google needs more time to perfect the technology, and the purpose of the Explorer Edition glasses is to be tested for a period of time. Although I’d certainly like to own a pair of Google Glass, it would be a much easier purchase if the price wasn’t $1,500. Hopefully, a lower price is one of the changes that is made before the eventual consumer release of Glass sometime next year.
[Android Central]
