glass

Lambda Labs readying Google Glass face-recognition API

Amid questions to Google from Congress about privacy concerns related to Google Glass, a San Francisco startup is preparing an API to recognize faces with the controversial gadget.

The Google Glass Face Recognition API (application programming interface) from Lambda Labs will be available to developers within a week, TechCrunch tells us, quoting co-founder Stephen Balaban. … Read more

Siri competitor Sherpa goes after Google Glass

Sherpa, a voice control app that promises a better experience than Apple's Siri, plans to beat Google at its own game on Google Glass.

Sherpa CEO and co-founder Xabier Uribe-Etxebarria unveiled the company's plans for the new app on Thursday in Spain, at the Sherpa Summit, an event with a lineup of speakers such as Mozilla CEO Mitchell Baker and John Sculley, former CEO of Apple.

Uribe-Etxebarria said the voice command app is actually more suited for the Google Glass hardware than Google's own software.

"Right now, with Google Glass, it's not taking advantage of … Read more

Now for sale on Craigslist: Google Glass

A Craigslist ad is perhaps not the most subtle of ways to go about doing things, and that includes selling your Google Glass.

One Craigslister, based in San Francisco's East Bay according to the ad, is selling his or her pair of Google Glass Explorer Edition, something that's expressly forbidden by the Glass Terms of Sale.

Violating a product's sale terms is practically a rite of passage, from ripping the safety tag off a mattress to ripping CDs and DVDs. What makes this case unusual is that the Craigslister is clearly trying to make a buck: this … Read more

Vint Cerf weighs in on Google Glass

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- One of the fathers of the Internet, Vint Cerf has got Glass and he isn't taking it off.

Cerf was attending the Future in Review conference here, where he stood out from the crowd in his signature three-piece suit and Google Glass. He said that he has been a regular Glass wearer for the last two weeks.

"Glass doesn't interfere with my normal vision, and I found it conveniently available," he said. "It's an extension of the mobile phone and less overt -- you don't have to pull out … Read more

2013 is the year of the voice command

"Ok, Glass -- take a picture!"

"Xbox, what's on HBO?"

"Siri, play Angry Birds."

During the reveal of the Xbox One, I was struck by just how many voice commands Microsoft programmed into the device. Kinect brought a rudimentary set of commands to the gaming console, but now everything from opening movies to launching apps can be done via voice. "Xbox, Live TV" may be my new favorite phrase in the living room.

Microsoft's not the only one who's betting big on voice commands. The vast majority of Google Glass'… Read more

4 biggest challenges facing Google Glass

Will Google Glass replace our smartphones? Or is it destined to become the biggest failure in Google's history?

Only one thing is for sure: Google Glass is in for a bumpy ride.

Unlike some journalists, I believe that Glass has great potential, especially when developers build more apps for it. Google faces an uphill battle of Everest proportions spurring mass adoption for the device, though. Just because it's "the future" doesn't mean it will be embraced by the public (see: Segway).

I believe Google Glass faces big obstacles in four key areas: privacy, style, usability, … Read more

Google Glass and the men's room urinals

commentary I suppose it was inevitable. The debate about Google Glass has extended into the bathroom. For those who've never experienced the joys of a men's restroom -- generally the women of the world -- here's how Glass might change our glorious experience.

Nick Bilton of The New York Times penned a great piece about how "the future came crashing down" on him as he stood at a urinal next to a Google Glass wearer at the Google I/O conference. I immediately identified, having had a similar close encounter at Google I/O.

In … Read more

Google's top product of I/O 2013: You

As I sat through the last half hour of a nearly 4-hour keynote, sweat pouring through my shirt, my attention waned. Most people's did. Where were the gadgets? Last year, Google seemed like the hottest (or, most conversation-starting) hardware company around. This year, the only hardware mentioned was the 3-month-old Chromebook Pixel. I wanted new, weird products: watches, new evolutions of Glass, crazy convertible tablets. I wanted to see what Google's next products are.

Yet, you can see the message. In the people wearing Glass -- of which I was one, sheepish, awkward. In the customized, personalized Maps. … Read more

Glasses with Google Glass: Prescription versions appear at Google I/O

SAN FRANCISCO--Google Glass currently comes in five colors and has a pop-in sunglass visor, but no version of the Explorer Edition comes with prescription lenses. For glasses-wearers like me, that means getting contacts or jamming them over my frames. Next year, that may change.

You had to look closely on the Google I/O show floor, but a few Google employees were wearing Glass prototypes with actual prescription glasses attached. Designed in-house at Google, they actually look good: crisp modern lines, but not exactly for the Ray-Ban set. Mark Shandy, seen above, was kind enough to show them off … Read more

Meta glasses bring 3D and your hands into the picture

Meron Gribetz and Ben Sand just rolled into Silicon Valley from New York, landing at Paul Graham's Y Combinator startup incubator with some angel money in their pockets and the bold conviction that they can deliver the next major technology transformation.

Their startup, Meta, is developing wearable computing eyewear, but unlike Google Glass enters 3D space and uses your hands to interact with the virtual world. The Meta system includes stereoscopic 3D glasses, supplied by Epson, and a 3D camera to track hand movements, similar to the portrayals of gestural control in movies like "Minority Report" and &… Read more