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Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Google will let anyone buy Glass for one day only

And just to make things more complicated, you will need to be based in the US and have $1,500 to get one.

A LOT MORE PEOPLE are about to get a chance to buy Google Glass, the internet-connected eyewear that has become the hottest accessory in geek fashion.

Google will sell the “Explorer” version of Glass to any US resident who places an online order for the device beginning on 15th April.

The product will cost $1,500, the same price that Google has charged for Glass since sales of the device began last year, the company said Thursday.

Google isn’t saying how many sets of Glass will be available during the limited-time offer.

It marks the first time that Google has made Glass available to consumers without providing them special access. More than 10,000 sets of Glass have been sold to a select group of developers, contest winners and other invitees.

This version of Glass, though, still isn’t the polished product that Google hopes to release in stores later this year. Although it hasn’t provided specifics, Google has indicated that the mass-market version of Glass will sell for less than $1,500. Google is expected to provide more details about its Glass plans at its annual developers’ conference in late June.

For now, Google is still trying to recruit more people willing to serve as guinea pigs for its attempt build a wearable device that features some of the same features as a smartphone. The Explorer program for Glass has been serving as Google’s test lab.

“Our Explorers are moms, bakers, surgeons, rockers, and each new Explorer has brought a new perspective that is making Glass better,” Google said in a Thursday post on its Plus social networking service.

Glass looks like a pair of spectacles except the Explorer edition doesn’t contain any actual glass in the frame. Instead, the device has a thumbnail-sized screen attached above the right eye so a user can check email, see Twitter posts or get directions without having to grope for a phone.

It can also take hands-free photos and video through voice-activated commands. The ability to record images so easily – and perhaps secretly – has raised privacy and piracy concerns and has prompted some casinos, theaters and bars to ban the use of Glass on their property.

Safety concerns have also been raised about drivers wearing Glass, prodding lawmakers to draw up new rules forbidding use of the device in moving vehicles.

‘Breakthrough’

Google and other technology enthusiasts are hailing Glass as a breakthrough that will make it easier for people to access the internet while on the go and cause fewer disruptions to social discourse because people won’t be fumbling around with their smartphones as frequently.

The device is also being touted as a potentially valuable business tool that could help police officers, fire fighters, doctors and reporters do their jobs better.

Glass is the most prominent example of wearable technology, devices that are expected to become more widespread over the next few years.

There are already several smart watches on the market, and Google is working with accessory makers to release even more of those devices later this year. Apple, the maker of the iPhone and iPad, is expected to unveil an “iWatch” later this year.

About 19 million pieces of wearable technology will be sold this year, more than tripling from last year, according to study released Thursday by International Data Corp. The research firm predicts the annual sales volume for wearable technology will swell to 112 million devices in 2018.

Google Glass / YouTube

Read: Google Glass is now setting its sights on the workplace >

Read: Land Rover’s transparent bonnet concept lets you see what’s under the car >

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24 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Viking
    Favourite Viking
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:06 PM

    In twenty years, these original glasses will be worth a few quid.

    85
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shanners
    Favourite Shanners
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:12 PM

    Lifehack tip: Sellotape phone to head. Record videos from POV for fraction the cost of 1500$

    75
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ben Leonard
    Favourite Ben Leonard
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:32 PM

    10 years from now, a packed pub with everyone wearing glasses, no one talking.. Frightning

    71
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    Mute Paul Roche
    Favourite Paul Roche
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:41 PM

    Prevent this from happening, put beer taps in libraries!

    39
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cpm
    Favourite Cpm
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:50 PM

    Beer tap glasses would be great though. “OK Heineken”

    17
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    Mute Seamus Mcfinnigan O Reily
    Favourite Seamus Mcfinnigan O Reily
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:07 PM

    FOCK THIS

    54
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Drew
    Favourite Drew
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:54 PM

    Manufactured demand…. Hottest thing in tech, so popular and in demand you need to be ‘invited’ by the company to part with your cash in exchange for it. The more they tell the public they can’t have it the more they’re willing to pump up the effect clambering over each other to get one…

    Same thing every year with faux iphone supply restriction when launched just before Christmas, waiting lists for women’s handbags or the line of people they intentionally keep Qing outside Abercrombie and Fitch.

    40
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Éanna Canavan
    Favourite Éanna Canavan
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:00 PM

    And so privacy is officially dead

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Thomas McGuire
    Favourite Thomas McGuire
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:49 PM

    Response posted from your smartphone with GPS enabled, front and rear facing cameras, and data enabled to receive notifications… possibly.

    20
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    Mute Paul Roche
    Favourite Paul Roche
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    Apr 11th 2014, 12:18 PM

    I am not impressed.

    23
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    Mute Leopold Dedalus
    Favourite Leopold Dedalus
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:01 PM

    Wind it up guys, Paul Roche is not impressed. All of our efforts were in vain.

    98
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joe Corleone
    Favourite Joe Corleone
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:26 PM

    And hand all the data straight to whatever spy surveillance agency wants it..nahhh yer alright Mr Google thanks

    19
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    Mute George Grey
    Favourite George Grey
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:03 PM

    Glass….check. Phone…check. Watch….check. Earpiece….check. Crikey! Where’s everybody gone?

    15
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    Mute brian
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:17 PM

    If you were in your local pub and a young lady walked in with a pair of glasses with no glass for internet usage you would say “did ye see yer wan wearing the invisible glasses” multiple mutterings in the crowd. If a bloke walked in wearing this item the lads would most likely say ” look at that bloody d***head “….would you chance a pair and risk being the topic of conversation for the wrong reasons… I think not.

    12
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    Mute John Ward
    Favourite John Ward
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    Apr 11th 2014, 2:17 PM

    We’re on the way to being just a brain in a jar!

    11
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    Mute Daniel Mc Atirah
    Favourite Daniel Mc Atirah
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    Apr 11th 2014, 3:19 PM

    Hey, that’s offensive to people who are brains in a jar. My father is a brain in a jar. Have some respect.

    25
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    Mute Joey / Subliminal
    Favourite Joey / Subliminal
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    Apr 11th 2014, 3:53 PM

    Does he come with Glass? I might get one.

    10
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    Mute Cpm
    Favourite Cpm
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    Apr 11th 2014, 2:30 PM

    If you really want to look stupid just hire a clown costume. It would cost a fraction the price.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pat Ward
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    Apr 11th 2014, 6:51 PM

    And I was wondering why you would buy it for one day only! Duh!

    6
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    Mute Anna Kirby
    Favourite Anna Kirby
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    Apr 11th 2014, 7:45 PM

    Google will let anyone buy glass for one day only. Google I will let you give me glass for one day only. If you miss the deadline your OUT.

    3
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    Mute Spud
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    Apr 11th 2014, 5:54 PM

    I’ve heard of Google Glass a lot, but still have no idea what it is supposed to be, or do. Is it so people can view a live stream of all the boring menial stuff you do during the day? It’d be like Instagram, only *live*! Jaysus, that sounds like great fun! (Not really). And those things look stupid anyway.

    2
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    Mute George Grey
    Favourite George Grey
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:01 PM

    Q

    2
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    Mute Leopold Dedalus
    Favourite Leopold Dedalus
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    Apr 11th 2014, 1:33 PM

    Good point

    24
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    Mute Shane Denham
    Favourite Shane Denham
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    Apr 12th 2014, 10:26 AM

    Am I the only one who is picturing everyone walking around looking like this..http://content.ytmnd.com/content/d/4/e/d4eb7e5cdcd881c2fceb1b42f1175b21.jpg

    1
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