Moto 360 will use sapphire glass, wireless charging -- report

The wireless charging capability falls in line with Motorola's previous tease of a "secret" method, while sapphire glass would give the smartwatch a more scratch-resistant shell.

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Augmented reality concept uses Google Glass to make reading the newspaper more like... reading a website

As part of the Wearable Tech Expo 2014 in Tokyo, the Asahi Shimbun is looking to offer richer content to users still reading its dead tree editions. The 'AIR' concept uses wearable du jour Google Glass to both detect physical markers and display any digital companion content. According to Asahi's Media Lab, the concept's aim is to better broadcast and convey "emotional" content: a picture of Winter Olympics skater Asada Mao gets picked up and Google Glass barrels into a slideshow, alongside a stirring soundtrack. (She had announced her retirement, and apparently her many fans were very upset.)

It's about connecting anyone who reads the (actual, physical) newspaper to everything that doesn't make it on to the page, whether that's more photos, related articles, or video. There's no release date for AIR -- to begin with, Google Glass isn't even available in Japan -- and it simply mimics, to a large degree, what we've already seen from augmented reality apps on smartphones. However, this wearable-based delivery method makes more sense, with no need to hover your smartphone camera over points of interest. The team didn't mention who powers the detection software, although the recent news that Layar has brought its APK to the Google wearable could well be connected.

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Doctors testing Google Glass to get real-time patient data

Emergency room clinicians at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston try out the wearable eyeglasses as a way to speak with and examine patients while simultaneously reading their charts.

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Save $224 With This 3D-Printed Adapter To Affix Google Glass To Standard Frames

Google is now selling its own Glass-compatible frames for prescription lenses, but they’ll set you back $225 a pair, lenses not included. That’s a bit steep, especially when you’ve already forked over $1,500 for Glass itself. A DIY project from design studio Pixil 3D can modify Glass to work with your existing prescription glasses for under $1 in material costs, provided you already have a 3D printer (or still way under even if you have to get someone else to print it on demand).

The adapter is just a simple plastic clip, but it seems to work well based on the demo video, and again there’s the $224 in savings you’ll net from not buying Google’s official option. In case you’re worried about how hard it is to modify Glass, it really just involves the removal of a single screw. As for the 3D printing portion, that might require visiting a local shop with a 3D printer, but the costs associated with that usually don’t exceed a few bucks.

Project creators Noé and Pedro Ruiz started Pixil 3D in South Florida to design and prototype innovative gadgets with 3D printers. They’ve made some pretty cool stuff, including this 3D animated BMO from Adventure Time with a programmable LED face.

Glass is still a device with a very limited user base, but if it does make its way to the consumer market later this year as is apparently planned, then this handy little gadget could be a useful cost-saver for a much larger group of people.

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The future of beauty school is Google Glass

At least according to L'Oreal. The hair care giant (and purveyor of giant hair) just announced Matrix Class for Glass, which gives clients and beauty school students a stylists-eye view of your head. The three-part program includes a video series of in-depth beauty tutorials shot with Google's wearable; Matrix Eye for Style, an "exclusive" salon experience provided by George Papanikolas, who will record sessions with the headset; and a series of lessons for beauty professionals given by be-Glassed hair care superstars.

This isn't the first or last time L'Oreal has taken advantage of the wearable; it used Glass to document Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Madrid late last year and has plans to release a Glass app sometime in 2014. It might seem like an odd coupling considering most glass holes are more Super Cuts than Vidal Sassoon, but L'Oreal says there's an intersection between the early adopters of fashion and tech. According to a study done by its partner at Fashion Week, Nurun, "The futuristic nature of Google Glass appealed to the fashion-forward, tech-savvy audience..." When we start seeing years-old issues of Wired replacing copies of Southern Hair at Truvy's, we'll believe it.

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Tags: beauty, beauty school, education, google, google glass, hair, loreal, matrix class for glass, steel magnolias, tutorials, wearables Next: Unknown Sony phone pops up in photos, suggests new Z1 variant could land at MWC
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Corning preps 3D Gorilla Glass for gadgets

(Credit:Corning)

Corning says it's time to take its chemically strengthened Gorilla Glass outside of the box.

Related storiesSamsung eyes 7.4 percent stake in Gorilla Glass maker CorningHands-on with Corning's bendable Willow Glass

On Friday, the glass maker announced that it's taking its best commercial success 3D, with a manufacturing process and plan that will make it easier for the company to produce the tougher topper in shapes other than the flat panel that covers a tremendous number of top phones and tablets.

Specifically, by shaping glass at high temperatures over 500 degrees Centigrade, much like you would in glass blowing, Corning says it can create more complex shapes than we're seeing on gadgets today.

Contoured smartphones and wearable or connected devices of all sorts are the most obvious application for 3D Gorilla Glass, though Corning isn't the only glass maker in the business, and glass certainly isn't the only material of choice for every device.

Tags: Gorilla Glass, Corning

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Corning is now ready to make 3D Gorilla Glass for wearable devices

Corning's Gorilla Glass is useful for protecting the (mostly) flat screens of smartphones, but it's not a great fit for the curvy world of wearables. The company is prepared to change with the times, though, as it just announced that it can manufacture 3D-shaped Gorilla Glass. Its newly available technique conforms to unusual designs without adding bulk or losing strength. If all goes well, products using the 3D glass will be on store shelves sometime this year. Corning hasn't named customers, but we imagine that at least a few companies are interested in using the material for durable yet unconventional displays.

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Source: Corning

Tags: corning, Display, g-tech, g-techoptoelectronics, glass, gorillaglass, smartphone, smartwatch, wearable Next: Wikipad breaks off controls into mobile Gamevice gamepad .fyre .fyre-comment-divider

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Google Play Music All Access customers are next in line for Glass

Google is expanding its pool of Explorers, slowly but surely. First it was people attending I/O; then friends of existing Explorers; now it's subscribers to Play Music All Access. To celebrate the release of Play Music on Glass (albeit a little belatedly), the tech giant is offering subscribers to its streaming service a chance to buy the fledgling wearable. Emails apparently started going out this morning (though, no Engadget editors have received theirs yet) inviting those eligible to request a place in the Explorer program. Of course, entry to the exclusive club still costs $1,500. Though, we're sure you'll been looking for something frivolous to spend your tax return on in a couple of months.

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Source: Android Central

Tags: allaccess, glass, google, googleglass, googleplay Next: TiVo co-founders joining forces for yet another set-top box
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Google Glass XE 12 update lets you wink to capture photos, adds new Hangouts and YouTube glassware

MyGlass for iOS isn't the only big news to come out of Google's Glass camp today. Turns out, the company's issuing a major update, dubbed XE 12, for the intelligent eyewear that not only makes the complete Glass-to-iOS bridge possible, but also bundles in a few other bells, whistles and, yes, winks.

Let's start there, shall we? Before today, the only way to take a photo with a wink was by way of a third-party app. But now, Google's baked that functionality directly into the Explorer Edition of Glass, making those sly creepster shots even easier. Glassware's also getting a major boost with the addition of Hangouts, for those of you that want to send SMS, chats or even video calls from your head, and YouTube for simple Glass video uploads. Apart from that significant feature boost, the Glassware for Google Play Music now offers explorers the ability to navigate by playlists or, if they're All Access subscribers, radio stations.

XE 12 brings some much needed security along with it, too, giving Explorers the option to set a screen lock that turns on when you take Glass off or deactivate it. And because shooting off messages with the obnoxious "Sent Through Glass" was a little too... obnoxious, Google's cut that outgoing signature from SMS, though it'll still be present on all outgoing emails. Know what else is getting the axe? Guest Mode. According to Google, the feature was just too much of a strain for its devs to maintain, so if you want to impress with Glass, just hand'em over freely or take Google's advice and create a demo account.

And finally, because Google likes to be cute, you can now ask Glass for helpful caloric counts or even "How far to Brooklyn?" (the answer: No Sleep Til Brooklyn) -- because everyone, even Google, loves the Beastie Boys.

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Source: Google

Tags: BeastieBoys, Glass, glassware, google, GoogleGlass, Hangouts, mobilepostcross, wink, xe12, Youtube Next: You can now tweet O2 for account information thanks to #Tweetserve
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