Real-world Usability
The navigation is a hot issue, and while
not being able to say things like "home" or "work" is a
disappointment, we found using Glass for directions was actually less
distracting than looking down at the dash of the car, or a window-mounted
smartphone.
Hangouts, when it works, is a great
experience, too. Being able to quickly and easily share something with your
friends that you are experiencing is going to make you smile. We also like to
impress our friends over dinner by looking up the authors of obscure books or
doing complex conversions just by asking Glass. And snapping pictures of
impromptu moments is far easier than a smartphone. Business travelers, you'll
enjoy taking pictures of your receipts and having them all synced (privately)
to the cloud.
But there are also many deficiencies. We
were surprised that Glass created a fairly trivial Bluetooth headset. You
thought that calling someone would be easy based on everything else that glass
can do, but the audio capture seems far more focused on grabbing audio of the
environment than the wearer. People we called constantly had issues
understanding us in even mildly noisy environments, like a car on the highway.
The bone-conducting speaker occasionally
left much regret. In noisy areas, such as airports or streets, you'll struggle
to hear anything. Plugging your ears with your fingers helps a lot, but also
makes you look a bit silly. Fortunately, wearing earbud has the same effect. In
fact, we'd love to see a 3.5mm headphone jack on a future set of Glass so that
you could wear your own earbuds and listen to music - which you can’t do on
Glass right now.
In addition, short battery life means you can’t
go through one day in the streets - not without a charging pit stop, anyway.
The photography in low light is a mess, having emails read to you is far too
cumbersome and the general lack of customization options is surprising. There
is also one other challenge affect not only the people who wear Glass but also
everyone else around: privacy.
Privacy Concerns
We can’t talk about Glass without addressing
its privacy concerns. There are many, and they are troubling. The most
embarrassing bit is that you can record videos anytime and there's really no
way for anyone else to tell. Google has made a regrettable decision to not
include something like a red LED on the front to indicate when Glass is
recording, which will be a limited (and easily defeated) step - but at least it
would be something. (Granted, Glass's screen always open when you're recording,
which if you look closely can certainly be seen from the outside, but a red
light would be a far more comforting indicator to the world at large).
The
most embarrassing bit is that you can record videos anytime and there's really
no way for anyone else to tell
Of course the problem is that now you can
take a picture or record a video of someone without their knowledge, but the
situation here is a bit reversed: nobody knows if you do not say you're taking
pictures or filming them. At least, this will lead to some innocuous comments
like "you're filming this?". But as time passed, as a wearer, you
will find people will act more cautiously around you. (In addition, they will
also struggle to maintain eye contact. One person told us that Glass looked
like a "third eye" that he couldn't stop staring at.)
Everyone can and should be a little worried
about somebody walking into public restroom with Glass on and, since you can't
fold them up and stick them in your pocket, finding something to do with them
while you do your business is a challenge. You can easily envision many other
situations where Glass owners would innocently wear their headsets much to the
discomfort of others and as of now, there is no way to reassure them that you
do not record them.
Conclusion
At this point, the Google Glass Explorer
version is hard to buy. To try them, you had to pre-register at Google I/O last
year, and even so, the headsets have been slow to ship. Ignoring it for a
moment, if you can afford at this time, is Google Glass worth $1,500 for casual
gadget fans? Of course not. Do not even bother considering it - unless your
pockets deep enough to spend that much on regular watches, sunglasses or
jewelry. The future version of Glass will be much cheaper before we begin to
consider this good value, although much depends on the values that support the
future development.
Google
Glass Explorer version is hard to buy.
In fact, this Explorer version isn't
supposed to be thought of in that way. The current Glass version is basically a
prototype, intended for developers and a lucky few others. As a research
project, it is very interesting. Developers will want to get this on hand ASAP
and honestly, we hope they do because we can’t wait to see what they can do
with it. The potential here is huge, and while we're expecting Google to drive
much of that, unexpected things that developers do will really move Glass
forward as a platform.
However, we also expect Google to address
the privacy concerns. Right now, this problem is largely under the radar and
will probably continue to do so until Glass began appearing publicly with
larger numbers. If Google does not get ahead of this first, Glass's story could
very quickly become one of fear, uncertainty and doubt by the public at large.
The future is extremely bright for Google Glass project and it'd be a damn
shame if it were dimmed by public outcry.
As several readers have pointed out, Glass
screen is always open while recording, which is a sign for someone looking from
the outside that the video is being recorded. However, we still feel a certain
type of red lights will be a very comfortable addition to the front of future
Glass iterations. (And we're sure there will be future versions. Glass is still
in the development stage and there's lot more to come).
Also, we are talking about millions of
people wondering how they can get their own Google Glass. Our glasses were
pre-ordered at Google I/O last year and are provided as part of that process.
Sorry, no, we can’t help you get some for yourself!
Info
·
Price: $1,500
Pros
·
Incredible potential
·
Easy Hangouts
·
Extremely comfortable
Cons
·
Short battery life
·
Camera is poor in low light conditions
·
Privacy concerns
Verdict
·
Google Glass is a more exciting innovation and
potential than any other new device categories that we have seen over the
years.
·
But, it is in the early stages and has an
extremely high-price for most people.
Google
Glass is a more exciting innovation and potential than any other new device
categories.
Technical specs
|
Camera
·
Photos - 5 MP
·
Videos - 720p
Audio
·
Bone Conduction Transducer
Connectivity
·
Wifi - 802.11b/g
·
Bluetooth
Storage
·
12 GB of usable memory, synced with Google
cloud storage. 16 GB Flash total.
Battery
·
One full day of typical use. Some features,
like video calls and video recording, are more battery intensive.
Charger
·
Included Micro USB cable and charger.
·
While there are thousands of Micro USB
chargers out there, Glass is designed and tested with the included charger in
mind. Use it and preserve long and prosperous Glass use.
Compatibility
·
Any Bluetooth-capable phone.
·
The MyGlass companion app requires Android
4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or higher. MyGlass enables GPS and SMS messaging.
|
