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My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

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Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#51

Post by Heliosmaster »

jdotjdot wrote: post #26

I'm actually pretty curious how this will fit for people who already wear glasses or some kind of eyewear. Will there be prescription Google Glass(es)? That could shoot the price way up, especially if Google is the only merchant for them. Who will make the lenses for me? Could I get my favorite glasses merchant to make my glasses, or will I be forced to get a $700 special prescription pair from Google? Maybe people w…

Eventually, if the market will be very wide, I guess there will be Google Prescription Glasses (you decide the name). For the moment Glass can be detached and put on top of the frame of your current glasses (bonus: hipsters with big frames, won't even notice it!).

I Totally agree with the first iteration concept.

Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#53

Post by polshaw »

I don't see why people think google are going to struggle to get this out for $200.

It is essentially galaxy nexus hardware without cell phone modem, a much smaller battery, and a small LCOS display instead of the large 720p AMOLED one. Yes, there will be higher non-recurring engineering costs with glass- fitting it into such a small space- but if they plan to go fairly mainstream these costs shouldn't cause too much of an impact on the unit device cost. Once you get into mass manufacturing, the marginal cost of making another one should be quite a bit lower than a current smartphone; as they are eliminating or massively reducing the cost of many of the major components.

If we look at google's track record, they haven't shown much desire to become a hardware company (that is, make the bulk of profits from selling hardware). Taking into account what google have been willing to price the nexus 4 at, with better hardware all round, I believe google are definitely capable of doing $200 unsubsidised if they want to. I can see $99 possible in the future.

Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#54

Post by dombili »

rmp2150 wrote: post #50
dombili wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but I don't think they've ever claimed that the picture quality of the camera was great. They emphasized on the camera a lot because taking pictures with the Glass is way more personal than taking a picture with a traditional camera. After some time, when you go back to look at the pictures you'd taken, you live those moments again the same way you remember them, from your point of view. This was my take anyway.

Yeah I understand that but whats the point if the quality is not good. Good Idea. Poor execution.

I don't think the quality is that bad, actually. In low light situations the camera obviously suffers, but that's not a big surprise, considering how small the lens is. Then again, I know nothing about photography.

Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#56

Post by jfoster »

colept wrote: post #37

I wonder what will happen when Google Glass goes consumer for Explorer upgrades. When Google released the Nexus One, I hopped on board and was satisfied until I went through two recovery requests on the power button. Google Glass is quite a chunk of change. I understand the value in their utility and scarcity, but come time when Google releases the Glasses at a consumer prices, I hope not to be disappointed by the sa…

Glass Explorers are not being ripped off. These are like limited edition Apple 1 computers. They're going to be treasured antiques within 15 - 20 years.

Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#57

Post by b1daly »

I think part of Scoble's enthusiasm must derive from the fact that he is an always connected person who travels, networks,communicates as his job. Nothing he describes sounded that great, but if you are online all the time while moving then I can see it. I'd like to be online less, and try to experience the world unmediated.

Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#58

Post by michaelt »

rmp2150 wrote: post #50
dombili wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but I don't think they've ever claimed that the picture quality of the camera was great. They emphasized on the camera a lot because taking pictures with the Glass is way more personal than taking a picture with a traditional camera. After some time, when you go back to look at the pictures you'd taken, you live those moments again the same way you remember them, from your point of view. This was my take anyway.

Yeah I understand that but whats the point if the quality is not good. Good Idea. Poor execution.

The images on the article, like [1] have been downscaled to 480×354 px for the mobile site, then upscaled by your browser.

The original can be accessed via the regular google plus interface [2] and downloaded as 2560x1888 px [3]

The quality is in line with a phone camera.

[1] https://plus.google.com/app/basic/photos/+Scobleizer/album/5... [2] https://plus.google.com/111091089527727420853/posts/ZLV9Gdmk... [3] http://imgur.com/RHmdbi7

Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#59

Post by mtgx »

I hope Google improves the camera by the time they release the consumer version. I saw the demo from Engadget editor, and the video seemed a little too shaky for my taste. It needs OIS, or something to make the video recording much more stable. This is even more important than in a smartphone, because you're moving your head a lot more. So Google should really prioritize this. I would also make it a lot better in low-light, and maybe even give it a flash for night shots and so on.

Voice will need to be flawless, so if voice recognition depends on how fast the processor is, then they need to put the fastest one in there (maybe a quad core Cortex A57 at 20nm, for efficiency, too).

They also need to keep working on the design, and make future generations as minimal as possible, and as "cool" looking as possible. They need to keep improving on this.

Re: My two-week review of Google Glass: it all depends on the price

#60

Post by bryanl »

onedev wrote: post #43
threeseed wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is looking away that breaks conversations, not doing something else. You ARE looking away. And depending on how many messages you receive it could be just as irritating to the person(s) you're with as constantly checking your phone. Least of all the constant doubt about whether your conversation is being recorded or not. I am not disputing their unquestionable usefulness I just have doubts they will be acceptable…

From having tried Glass, I can affirm that you do indeed look away. If any of you are wearing glasses, try looking at the top corner of your frame; that's the same motion needed to engage with Glass. You'd effectively completely break eye contact with the person you're talking to and motion as if you're looking at something completely different. It's the equivalent of getting distracted by a cool car while your frien…

This interesting. Owning Glass, I can assure you that of is possible to maintain eye contact while viewing content. Depending on the amount of cognition needed to process the content, this perceived conversation might be broken.
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