Google Glass heads overseas, goes on sale in the U.K.
Explorers will have to pay £1,000 to use Google Glass in the United Kingdom
It's been a bit more than a month since Google Glass finally opened up its Explorer program to anyone in the country. And since then, well, things have not been going, well, not all that great.
Have you noticed how you don't see everyone walking down the street wearing their Glass? Or that no one you know actually has one? The general feeling about the device can be summed up in one word: "eh." People either seem to be creeped out by the device, or they just dismiss it. And then there was that Daily Show segment, which mocked the "persecution" of Glass wearers and really, really did not help the cause.
But hey, there's still a lot of time to get this right! And even if people in the U.S. don't seem to care much, maybe someone else will. So, on that note, Google Glass has started its long march overseas.
It's first stop: the United Kingdom, where Google is opening uo beta Explorer program, it was announced in a Google+ post on Monday.
"Probably the question we’ve heard more than any other is: when will Glass be available outside the US? Well, we’re starting out by dipping our toes across the pond," the company wrote. "The world sees the UK as a center (actually, a centre) of innovation. It has produced some of the greatest technology inventors and inventions of the last century, and people on the ground are always excited to explore new products and ideas."
The device that is being sold through the Google Play store is the Explorer Edition and is being sold for £1,000. (That comes out to $1,702.74, which is more than the $1,500 it costs to buy one here). In conjunction with the announcement, Google is also setting up a demo event in London on June 27 and 28 for people to come try it out.
Despite only being announced a few hours ago, the U.K. editions of the device already have a number of Glassware apps already.
As part of the official launch, The Guadrian newspaper announced that it was releasing its first app for Glass, which will offer breaking news notifications, short summaries delivered in audio, content sharing and the ability to save news items to read later.
The other new apps came from music recognition app Shazam, as well as soccer news app Goal.com, augmented reality app StarChart and fitness game Zombies, Run!
It unclear right if Google Glass will be available to everyone in the UK, or just to a select group as it was in the United States before it was opened to everyone.
VatorNews has reached out to Google to find out, and to ask what, if any, other countries it is looking to expand Glass to. We will update it we learn more.
Check out the Daily Show segment I mentioned earlier below:
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