Until now, there had been no official word from Google on an app store for Glass, but The New York Times this past weekend briefly mentioned that Google was planning to launch a Glass app store in the future. The Glass app store got official, however, when Google went on to confirm the Times‘ report to Marketing Land on Tuesday. Google had already asked developers to begin preparing applications for Google Glass earlier this year, which made it clear that an announcement would be coming relatively soon. The company has not revealed any more details about the store, including whether or not it will be a part of Google Play or a separate store entirely.
Have you ever wished that you didn’t have to use your smartphone to make phone calls? If so then HTC is hoping you’ll throw down $50 for the HTC Mini+, a new accessory that connects with your HTC smartphone via Bluetooth and lets you make calls while you use your smartphone for surfing the web. HTC says that the new smartphone phone also features a “hands-free remote camera control lets you take pictures from your phone at a distance” and that it “even doubles as a TV remote control, and pairs with select HTC devices to operate multimedia streaming through your HTC Media Link HD.” If accessories like this start to catch on, we might see Nokia release a separate camera to go with the Lumia 1020 so you won’t have to waste your device’s 41-megapixel camera taking pictures.
Microsoft has always placed a lot of importance on hooking things up to a keyboard — witness Steve Ballmer’s prediction that the iPhone would flop because it lacked a physical keyboard or the company’s decision to make a click-in keyboard an integral part of its Surface tablet. But PCWorld reports that Microsoft’s own principal researcher Andy Wilson knows that keyboards are now past their prime and will be relegated to niche status going forward. More →
Gadget spam: It’s not just for Samsung smartphones and tablets anymore. Samsung on Thursday unveiled three concepts for new printers that it says “will push the boundaries of innovation in the printing industries” by letting you use your printer as both a stereo and a smartphone dock, among other things. More →
Sure, Apple and Samsung are completely dominating the smartphone industry right now but that doesn’t mean they’re also destined to dominate the burgeoning market for wearable computers, right? In an interview with AllThingsD, Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor said that even though “there are like two companies that make half of all the smartphones on the planet,” he thinks that “wearables are going to be different” because there will be much more potential for niche wearable computing products. Among other things, McGregor notes that there are “dozens of digital watches being funded through Kickstarter, with wearable products serving niches such as Boston commuters or pet owners who want to track” their pet’s exercise habits. More →
It looks as though Google may be pushing its Glass headset out to traditional retail outlets. Rackspace startup liaison officer and noted Glass enthusiast Robert Scoble wrote on his Google+ account this week that he’s been hearing rumors that “Google is renting 6,000 square feet inside every Best Buy next year” so it can showcase and sell Google Glass to consumers. Having dedicated spaces within Best Buy stores has become very common lately as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft all have their own “stores-within-stores” at several Best Buy locations. Given where Scoble is best-known for showing off his Google Glass headset, however, a better fit for the device might be Bed, Bath & Beyond. More →
Google is apparently still smarting from Robert Scoble’s infamous Google Glass shower photo. The New York Times reports that Google is trying to counter Glass’s reputation as a gadget for dorks by putting together a 12-page spread featuring models fashionably wearing the device for the September issue of Vogue. Google’s Glass team communications manager Chris Dale tells the Times that “seeing Glass represented so beautifully in this issue is a huge thrill for the entire Glass team” since “the Vogue September issue has become a cultural touchstone ahead of New York’s Fashion Week.” The Times expresses skepticism that one fashion spread will change Glass’s image, however, since it’s recently talked with some Glass enthusiasts who only wear the devices at home because they feel too “dorky” while wearing them in public. More →
The Jawbone UP is the best fitness tracker I have ever used. There is no close second. While similar wristband and app combos do some things as well as the UP, none offer a complete package that can match what Jawbone has created. The band itself features a great design that stands out from the crowd. It’s also water resistant and the battery outlasts every comparable device. The accompanying iPhone and Android apps are absolutely gorgeous and extremely well made, and I have yet to find a rival offering with a more intuitive software design. And yet despite all this, I have given up on the Jawbone UP and switched to a rival band with a vastly inferior user experience. More →
With Samsung rumored to unveil its first-ever smartwatch in less than a month, we now have a very good idea of what the new device will be called. Dutch website Galaxy Club has spotted a trademark filing for a new line of devices called the Galaxy Gear that the company describes as “wearable electronic devices in the form of a wristwatch, wrist band or ban.” This is the second time we’ve seen the upcoming smartwatch referred to as the “Gear,” so it looks as though Samsung has now made a final decision on the name for its smartwatch. Earlier rumors have indicated that Samsung will release the device on September 4th alongside its Galaxy Note III.
Apple posted a 20% profit decline in its spring quarter. Personal navigation device (PND) vendor Garmin just delivered a comparatively mild 7% earnings decline. If anyone had forecast this outcome two years ago, he would have been branded as a lunatic. Or possibly a dark prophet of apocalypse: “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see; And I beheld, and lo a PND vendor that was supposed to be dead outperformed the most profitable smartphone vendor in history in annualized profit trend comparison.” More →
Life can get lonely for early Google Glass adopters, especially if you’re the only person in your social circle who’s using Google’s experimental digital headset. And that’s why, as 9to5Google reports, the company is toying around with letting select Glass users send out invitations to their friends who are interested in joining the Glass Explorer Program. A Google spokesperson tells 9to5Google that the invitation initiative is an “experiment” for the time being and that the company doesn’t have plans to send out more invitations other than the ones it’s already handed out to a limited number of developers. Of course, even if you’re invited to join the Glass program you’ll still have to pony up $1,500 to get the headset so the invitations likely won’t be worth much to people who don’t have a good chunk of spare cash on hand.
Google may not be afraid to fail but it still can’t be happy that so many are comparing its Glass headset to one of the dorkiest innovations of the past 20 years: The Segway. GigaOM reports that a group of venture capitalists who are investing their cash in wearable computing devices don’t think Glass has what it takes to be a hit on the consumer market. Instead, they believe that it will be seen as the calling card of hapless, socially awkward dorks. More →