Just ahead of its I/O 2014 conference, Google has announced changes to its Glass Explorer programme with most notable change or upgrade coming in the form of 2GB RAM for all future Glassware.
“The Explorer Program has been an exciting ride, and as a result of your feedback, we’ve picked up the pace on making more improvements”, announced Google in a Google+ post. “With I/O about to kick off, we wanted to share some of the most recent improvements we’ll be rolling out.”
“Glass will now start shipping with 2GB of RAM”, Google announced. However, there is no clarity whether existing Glass Explorers will have the option of upgrading their pieces with an upgraded one that packs 2GB RAM.
We would expect them to demand a free upgrade considering that all Glass were shipped with 1GB RAM until now. With Android taking up as much as 342MB RAM once it booted, there was only 682MB for developers to play with and as it happened, the Glassware did get bogged down by a few apps.
Chances are that Google might just allow Explorers to upgrade for free considering that it already has offered free upgrades once before. We are not clear whether the recently announced Google Glass Explorer expansion in the UK will have the new 2GB variants or not.
Beyond the 2GB upgraded variants, Google has also announced a couple of other things for Glass. First it’s the viewfinder which will allow users to frame their shots. “When you say “ok glass, show the viewfinder” you’ll see white L’s in the four corners of your Glass screen”, said Google.
Google has also added new Google New cards – one reminds you where you have parked your car and the other one lets you know when packages are coming.
Google also announced 11 new apps for Google Glass including Runtastic, The Guardian, GuidoGO, Start Chart and Shazam.
