Never one to shy away from a little showboating here and there, Google’s I/O event kicked off in typically understated style when a groups of skydivers threw themselves out of a blimp over the event hall in San Francisco – simply to demonstrate the company’s new “augmented reality” glasses – aka project glass.
Google’s Project Glass
Google’s Project Glass has been making waves all around the world for some time now, as critics argue as to whether the technology represents an important leap forward, or one step too far. For all the technical descriptions and breakdowns in the world, the glasses are essentially wearable high-end Smartphones with a bunch of new features designed for complete and total hands-free use.
The glasses were donned by the skydivers and their plummet was streamed live into the event hall, much to the surprise, amazement and in some cases bewilderment of the 6,000 developers within.
Google then showed off just how easily the glasses made if for their wearers to upload and share content via the web, which was of course impressive for a pair of glasses, but nothing new in the Smartphone stakes.
However, perhaps the biggest surprise of all came in the form of Google’s announcement that the Beta version of the glasses was now available for preorder and would set the developer-exclusive client-base back $1,500 a pop – even after admitting that the release will be “rough” around the edges and far short of the commercial release.
Google insisted that those looking to remain right on the cutting-edge really shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to gain such an edge…in their humble opinion of course.
Google Nexus 7
Even with such heroics and bravado however, Google’s Project Glass was by no means the star of the show – nor in fact did the high-tech glasses manage to take the silver medal position. No – the top two spots were already reserved for the Google Nexus 7 tablet and its Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS – both of which have dominated the rumor-mill for months.
Google’s new Nexus 7 tablet is a 7-inch device designed primarily for media consumption, which is scheduled to be pitted against the likes of the iPad and the Amazon Kindle Fire in the very near future. Not only is the Nexus 7 the very first home-made pure-Google tablet the company has ever produced, but it will also herald the debut of Google’s first ever tablet-specific OS – Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Very little was revealed about the Google Nexus 7 that we didn’t already know, such as its Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, the new OS and its astonishing $199 price tag. Analysts and experts are now united in their opinions that the Nexus 7 has effectively sealed the untimely death of the Amazon Kindle Fire – at least until the fabled Kindle Fire 2 comes along as early as next month.
And let’s of course not forget the iPad Mini, though at this point in time Apple’s entry to the mini-tab battlefield seems as distant as it ever did.
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