Google Glass

Google opens Glass sales in the UK, for £1,000 a pop

Life
Google appears to be preparing many more features for Google Glass ahead of an eventual public launch

24 June 2014

Google Glass is now available to any adult living in the UK, as the company eyes international expansion of its head mounted computer system.

Google said Monday that it was opening the beta Explorer edition of Glass to any UK resident over age 18, at a price of £1,000. At current exchange rates, that’s roughly $1,700 – $200 more than the device’s price in the US.

Google didn’t say where that extra $200 was going. But the unit does have some new features aimed at UK residents. It can recognise their accents, as well as the metric system, so metrics like Fahrenheit are changed to Celsius, the company said. Google also said it was working with UK developers to provide locally relevant software for the system. That could come in the form of specialised mapping apps.

Google said it has received many questions around Glass’ availability outside the US. “We’re starting out by dipping our toes across the pond,” the company said.

Later this week the company is hosting a demo day in London for people interested in trying out Glass.

Google is intent on making Glass a useful device for gaining access to contextually relevant information, but that hasn’t stopped others from poking fun at it.

A number of popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and breaking news from CNN are already available for Glass.

This week Google is hosting its annual I/O developers conference in San Francisco, during which the company will lead sessions on how to build new types of software for Glass.

IDG News Service

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