Google has announced this week that it will finally stop selling Google Glass and the indefinite suspension of the project that started more than a decade ago without ever succeeding after multiple attempts to resume it by the American technology giant.
Google’s Glass Enterprise Edition 2 smart glasses are no longer on sale since yesterday, while the company dates the end of the support it is giving to this project to the end of this year, which was preceded by the also failed original Google Glass , although the version for companies has not worked for the company either.
The decade that the Google Glass project has lasted began in April 2013, with the presentation of the revolutionary smart glasses that promised to completely change the technology market and hit the table that never came: after a year and a half they disappeared from the map, although Google would not give up so easily.
Four years later, Google opted for a new approach to the project of its namesake smart glasses, with the launch in 2017 of the Google Glass Enterprise format. This version abandoned the use of the general public for entertainment and leisure and opted for a company vision and directly thought for industrial clients.
The idea of the Enterprise version came with the intention of allowing workers to stay connected with their hands free, while at the same time being able to access virtual functionalities, artificial intelligence and multiplatform options that theoretically had to revolutionize jobs in industrial sectors. and technological.
In 2020, what would be the Glass Enterprise Edition 2 was launched for sale, a refined and more powerful version of Google glasses, with better chips and optimization thanks to the recent adoption of Snapdragon XR1 hardware specially adapted to the spectacular but unsuccessful technological glasses.
The American company once again opted for a slightly larger audience, although it was equally focused on the business sector for a reduced price of $999 for companies and almost $300 more for interested individuals, an initial budget barrier that was never fully adjusted to the pockets of the average user.
Finally, Google has decided to put its project on hold and announce from March 15 that it no longer sells Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, although the company will continue to offer technical support until September 15, 2023 to current customers. of the glasses that they have decided to bet on the failed product of the North American giant.
However, from Google they acknowledge that “no software updates are planned” to improve the performance of their glasses, so their “support” really means that customers will be able to continue to receive replacement devices, since customer service programs continue. existing up to that deadline.
And what will happen after September 15? Google ensures that all its existing glasses will continue to function as normal and third-party developers will still be able to update their applications, which are generally responsible for the functionalities that these Google Glass have. Mind you, their “Meet on Glass” app that launched less than a year ago is only meant to work until the deadline, so after that it might be outdated.
The discontinuation of the project comes at an interesting time for Google Glass, since the platform has recently entered Early Access to integrate with Google Pixel mobiles through a new complementary application. That line included integration with regular Google apps and services, including Google Tasks, Google Translate, and Google Camera.
Despite this withdrawal, Google maintains its project on AR headphones with Android, and as confirmed by technology experts close to the company, there are signs that Google is working on smart rings with functions such as live transcription translation, an alternative for which it could bet more clearly now the technology giant.