MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that...

How Wireless Will Pave the Path to Neobank Profitability

I'm delighted to bring you an opinion...

An end of an era: Vodafone UK turns off 3G services

I thought it was worthwhile highlighting this...

Is it time to get on board with Google Glasses yet?

I was keen to get a look at the demo of Google Glasses working filmed at SXSW. It’s a bit shakey-cam but it gives you a good example of how the stuff is working in reality rather than the standard promotional stuff you’d expect from Google:

SlashGear’s written up the video here.

I’m pretty excited at the concept. I’m giving it a lot of thought.

Browsing through the Google Glasses site though, I have to say, I think the device is looking very smart.

So to answer the question in the title above: Yes. It is time to get on board. Glasses won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I can seriously imagine folk in the Valley wearing them non-stop. And that’s going to spread around the world swiftly.

However the technology will need to get exceedingly cheap before it’s going to become mainstream enough for you to walk around London with a pair on… without having them snatched from your head (like I experienced with my Nokia N95 phonejacking incident a few years ago).

I’m not that enamoured about the voice interface. That’s hardly going to be useful during a board meeting is it? (“OK Glasses, bring up the employment contract of Ewan and let me see if we can get rid of him…”)

Still. Around the house? When you’re out and about (in mugging-safe territory)? Yeah. On the train? Hmmm. Again, the speaking bit is likely to annoy everyone.

Or, will we soon find ourselves in carriages full of commuters wearing Google Glasses talking out loud to no one in particular? (A bit like the last train from Waterloo on a Friday night.)

Bring it on.

If you haven’t checked out Google’s promo video it’s worth a look.

1 COMMENT

  1. There are, unsurprisingly, some major privacy concerns being raised by Google Glass. Aside from the obvious in that I don’t necessarily want someone filming me when I am talking to them, there is a concern that wearers of Glass become police informants and are forced to hand over any video that may used as evidence of a crime. Concerns about use of Glass when using an ATM or any Pin Entry Device (PED) and the glasses get stolen or the video accessed and suddenly your PIN is exposed.

    Additionally there is an issue about distraction and how maintaining focus on a task whilst being fed supplementary information from Glass. No-one can multi-task so that will be interesting to see how people maintain a conversation or just carry on walking without that distraction.

    Don’t get me wrong, I am big fan of this type of technology but I suspect there will be some backlash from privacy campaigners, European ICO’s, safety campaigners..

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recently Published

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that next to nothing from Mobile World Congress would break through into the mainstream media. I was right,...

How Wireless Will Pave the Path to Neobank Profitability

I'm delighted to bring you an opinion piece from Rafa Plantier at Gigs.com. I think it's particularly relevant given the recent eSIM news from...

An end of an era: Vodafone UK turns off 3G services

I thought it was worthwhile highlighting this one from the Vodafone UK team. For so long - for what feels like years, seeing the...

Mobile World Congress: Did the mainstream media notice?

I resolved this year to make sure I wrote something - anything - about Mobile World Congress, the huge mobile industry trade show taking...

NordVPN: Thanks again, Revolut

When I upgraded to Revolut's Ultra offering, I did so with a strong focus on the Financial Times digital subscription which normally retails at...

Revolut’s Roaming eSIM: 1 week later

This week I have been using Revolut's new eSIM capability whilst I was in Sweden for Stockholm FinTech Week. I'm an Ultra subscriber so...