Google axes the sale of Google Glass, for now
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Google announced it would halt sales of its wearable Google Glass headset.
The company stated on its Google+ page Wednesday that January 19th would be the final day for consumers to buy the experimental Explorer Edition of Google Glass.
Google went on to say that it is ready to 鈥済raduate鈥 the project from its Google X labs and will end the , an 鈥渙pen beta鈥 where consumers could give feedback about the $1,500 device.
Google made it clear in the announcement that Google Glass was not dead and would be 鈥渕oving even more from concept to reality.鈥 The company told customers to be ready for future versions of Glass, but gave no timeline or details about the next edition. Google also confirmed it would continue to support companies that are using Glass, .
Google Glass had its share of issues when it was originally released. 鈥淓xplorers鈥 went from excited to underwhelmed as they tested the young technology. James Katz, Boston University鈥檚 director of emerging media studies, said he did not find the device 鈥渦seful鈥 and it 鈥渄isturbed鈥 people around him, as he said in a 2014 interview with .
This disturbed feeling may have been Glass鈥 undoing. While the hands-free device opened new possibilities for wearable tech, it was also very well known that the wearer had the potential to record all activity around him or her with the built-in camera. It became a scarlet letter for the wearer (see Bluetooth headsets from the 2000s) and few people felt comfortable being as the Atlantic put it.
Google has yet to say how it will address this issue.
Even celebrities could not pull off the awkward device, Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC technology correspondent. Mr. Cellan-Jones spent a couple months wearing the specs and believes some new talent will address the fashion crisis. Google has brought on Ivy Ross, American business executive and jewelry designer, as the Glass team leader to add some fashion sense to the design. Ms. Ross will be to Tony Fadell, the chief executive of Nest Labs, which Google purchased last year for $3 billion.
While Google has not made any official statements about the new version of Google Glass, the reported in December that the company partnered with Intel, who will be developing a processor for the Glass, and will possibly be releasing a new model in 2015.
鈥淕oogle has tried to present this announcement as just another step in the evolution of an amazing innovation,鈥 Cellan-Jones writes. 鈥淏ut make no mistake - Google Glass is dead, at least in its present form."