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03/28/2024 12:38:23 pm

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Google Glass Sales Stopped but Eric Schmidt Assures It's Being Made 'Ready For Users'

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(Photo : Reuters)

Google halted the sale of its controversial Glass device last January. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has squashed those rumors, however.

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In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Schmidt said Google Glass is "a big and very fundamental platform" for the company.

Schmidt said the rumors started when they stopped the Glass Explorer program and took it out of their X research laboratory and turned it into a standalone product. Glass team head Ivy Ross will remain at her post and Nest home division head Tony Fadell will take the overall lead for the project.

The Google chief explained that Fadell's team will make the Google Glass "ready for users." Schmidt told the WSJ his company "is about taking risks" and the current phase Glass is undergoing should not be taken as a sign they're ending the wearable project.

Google Glass became the subject of much controversy and privacy debates upon its introduction because of its ability take pictures and videos. Google Glass wearers were jokingly called "Glassholes".

The market for wearable technology devices is potentially huge and Google is very much interested in getting a big slice of that market. Last year, IDC projected annual shipment growth of 78 percent or 112 million units in 2018 compared to its estimate shipment of 1.9 billion smartphones for the same time period. 

In the case of Google Glass however, the market isn't yet that receptive because its use is somewhat limited.

WSJ also earlier reported Google is currently designing a cheaper and better version of Glass.  The company will also pair the new Glass with conventional eyewear to make it more unobtrusive.

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