Yes, there is a new round of Glassware (seriously, that’s what they’re calling it) available for the 2000 or so lucky early adopters who are currently walking around with a pair of Google Glass on their faces. Until recently, the only third-party apps available for Glass were from the New York Times and social network Path, but no more: now the list extends to include Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, CNN, fashion title Elle and productivity app Evernote.
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The introduction of two of the world’s most popular social media sites means that users can now share life with Glass to an extended network of friends and followers. Twitter’s app doesn’t include the same level of functionality you’d find on its web, tablet or smartphone versions, but it lets the wearer post photos taken with Glass to the site with an auto-populated #throughglass hashtag. If you’ve set your account up to display notifications for direct messages, tweets from specific users or mentions, then you will also see pop up alerts, which you can reply to, retweet and favourite.
According to Facebook, users of its Glass app can share photos to their timelines, by using the generic voice instruction “Ok Glass, take a picture” then tapping the touch pad on the side of the device and selecting the option to post the shot according to who they’d like to share it with (‘only me’, ‘friends’ or ‘public’). They can also delete the photo from the device and add a description after the image has been posted via voice control, but extra functionality like tagging still has to be done from a desktop or mobile device. Tumblr’s app offers more options, like the ability to post text, images and videos and receive notifications from your dashboard, while Evernote’s Glass app allows users to share notes from the web or mobile apps to their smart specs, so they can see text-based lists before their eyes.
The two media apps for CNN and fashion title Elle let users choose categories of interest (like general news, sport, etc) which will then push breaking news and updates to their devices. According to the New York Times, CNN’s app also lets you choose which times in the day you’d like to receive updates, then shows you a short video clip, displays information or reads a summary to you. Elle’s app also lets you save content to read later, taking advantage of the fact that you may not want to view a lengthy story on a tiny screen in front of one eye.
The introduction of the new apps means that the 2000 Glass Explorers (the Google I/O attendees who paid US$1500 last year to be the first to get their hands on the gadget) and the 8000 or so people who will soon be receiving the pair they ‘won’ by participating in Google’s #ifihadglass campaign will have something else to do on their expensive futuristic specs besides post endlessly to Google+. Despite initially suggesting the devices would be available to the general public this year, Google has yet to confirm a release date, although some say the rest of the world may have to wait until 2014.
