Google Glass 2.0 is real, and here are photos to prove it
Photos that Google filed with the FCC show the device inside and out.
The next generation of Google Glass, Google's head-mounted wearable display, is the real deal.
A filing to the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. government body that must review and approve personal electronics like phones and wearables, reveals photos of the device's external design, along with internal circuitry (see below) and also a basic user manual. The filing also includes a statement on company letterhead authorizing a third party to help get Google through the FCC's authorization process.
A new edition of Google Glass signals a possible new direction for the company's stalled and stagnant wearable, especially if it winds up in use as a business tool rather than as product for everyday buyers, as blog 9-to-5 Google reports.
Named as model GG1 on the FCC documents, the device appears to hew closely to the original Google Glass Explorer Edition. In other words, it will look like a set of eyeglass frames with a screen floating above your eye.
A previous patent from November depicts a version of Glass that looks like a squiggle of a device that would hug only half your head. Google apparently isn't ready for that future of Glass yet.
Unconfirmed rumors from 9-to-5 Google and The Wall Street Journal suggest that the new edition of Google Glass will have a larger prism, a sturdier design and include an Intel Atom processor. It could sell directly to businesses.
Google Glass has had a rough ride so far. Launched in 2012 for developers and then in 2013 for buyers, Google Glass was widely received as expensive and invasive, the latter because people feared they were being photographed or recorded without knowledge or permission. Google stopped selling its first Glass edition in January 2015.
Google did not respond to a request for comment for this report.
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Samsung's working on a chip that may finally make fitness trackers useful
Next up on the Korean electronics giant's plate: A bio-processor that can detect useful health details like body fat and stress level.
Fitness trackers are a hot holiday item, and there's a chance you got one as a gift this year.
But how long will you actually stick with the device? Most only track simple stats like the number of steps taken and calories burned. Smartwatches like the Apple Watch can keep tabs on your heart rate. I stuck with my Nike FuelBand (R.I.P.) for two years, but at some point even I decided it wasn't really that useful anymore. (My wife had given up a year earlier.) For more dedicated athletes, a fitness tracker may not be enough.
Samsung, the Korean electronics conglomerate, wants to take it up a notch. The company said Tuesday that it's working on a so-called "bio-processor" packed with sophisticated measuring tools that can track metrics like body fat, stress level, skeletal muscle mass, heart rate and rhythm, and skin temperature.
The additional capabilities could turn fitness trackers from a simple gift into a more integral health-tracking device that can provide specific data useful to more than just athletes. Samsung is looking to capitalize on our increasing obsession with health and well-being.
That obsession is borne out in the products that dominate the burgeoning market of wearable tech. The top player is fitness tracker Fitbit, followed by the Apple Watch and China's Xiaomi, a smartphone player that also makes an inexpensive fitness tracker called the Mi Band. Total shipments of wearable devices grew 198 percent in the third quarter over a year ago, according to IDC.
This chip may give Samsung's own smartwatches an edge over the competition. The company fell out of the top five players in the third quarter, according to IDC.
It won't just be smartwatches. Samsung said it has created mock devices, including a wristband and patch, to demonstrate how the chip could be used. The company stresses the small size of the chip, especially given all of the sensors packed inside, as a key advantage.
Samsung said the chip is in production now and will be available for fitness and health devices in the first half of 2016.
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