Google Glass is NOT dead – its just being 'made ready for users', confirms US search giant
GOOGLE has not given up on its controversial smart glasses – but is instead quietly developing the technology to ensure it is "made ready for users", executive chairman Eric Schmidt has confirmed.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tries out the infamous Google Glass headset ahead of its UK launch
The Californian company stopped all Google Glass sales in January leading to widespread speculation the project had been scrapped for good.
Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it
But executive chairman Eric Schmidt has today confirmed the company's infamous voice-activated eyewear is still in the works.
The project is currently being overseen by Nest founder Tony Fadell, who created the wifi-connected thermostat company acquired by Google for three billion dollars in January 2014.
"It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google," Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal.
"We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us cancelling the whole project, which isn’t true.
"Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it."
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt confirmed the Google Glass project is alive and well
The Google Glass Explorer programme launched in the United States in 2013 to allow developers access to an early version of the glasses.
Glass headsets, which were criticised for poor battery life and a cumbersome design, went on sale in limited numbers for $1,500 (£990).
The Explorer programme was last summer opened up to buyers in the UK – some six months before the scheme was shutdown.
Google is now rumoured to be working on a new, slimmer version of the Glass hardware.
The new product is expected to have longer battery life, improved sound quality and a better display.
Unlike the Explorer programme, work on the latest version is understood to take place behind-the-scenes – a product development strategy Nest CEO Fadell will have experienced during his time at Apple, where he worked on the first iPod.