It is looking to reboot the glasses with a slightly different design and a focus on giving them to businesses, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. A new consumer version of the glasses — which the company has repeatedly hinted at since it stopped selling them at the beginning of the year — is at least a year away, according to the report.
The new model comes as a curved rectangle, like the first version. But instead of including a frame, it comes with a special “button-and-hinge system” that will let it be clipped on to any glasses.
Google is quietly giving out the new version to developers, who are being encouraged to develop apps for businesses, according to the report. The glasses will then start going out to businesses from the autumn.
Keeping it for use in a business setting will let Google get around many of the criticisms that were made about the early version. One of the biggest criticisms was that the glasses allowed people to secretly film others in public, breaching their privacy.
Instead, the glasses will let surgeons film and watch messages during procedures, or fix machinery from afar, the Wall Street Journal reports.
As well as the new, more flexible design, the new glasses also feature an upgraded processor, extra battery and better wireless connectivity, according to the report. The small, long screen that shows information has also been improved, to make it longer, thinner and more adjustable.
By Andrew Griffin
