The third generation of Google Glass may be nearly ready for release

By Christian de Looper Published July 23, 2019

It looks like Google hasn’t given up on Google Glass just yet. According to a new report from DigiTimes suggests that the third generation of Glass has finished the development stage and is now in pilot production.

The report notes that the 3rd-gen Glass is as light as ever, weighing as little as a pair of regular glasses. There’s a catch though — the battery life will reportedly suffer as a result of the light build. In fact, battery life is so low that users may only get 30 minutes of use in between charges.

Recommended Videos

The shift of attention away from battery life is a pretty big change. The first generation of Google Glass had a 780mAh battery, while the second generation stepped things up to 820mAh battery. Both of these devices offered at least a few hours of normal use.

It’s currently unclear exactly who Google is targeting with the 3rd-gen Glass. After the initial launch of Google Glass, Google began targeting enterprise and business users. It’s possible that given the weight, Google wants to bring Glass once again into consumer consciousness, but given the battery life — or lack thereof — we think it’s more likely that Glass will remain squarely focused at certain industries.

There are other details we don’t know just yet, too. For example, it’s not known how much the new version of Google Glass will cost, however previous versions have come in at around $1,000. Other details about the specs of the device also have yet to be revealed, such as the processor, amount of RAM, and resolution of the display.

An official release date for the device currently isn’t known, but it could be a while, given the fact that Google announced and upgraded the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 at the end of May.

The 3rd-gen Google Glass is being built by Pegatron Corporation and Quantra Computer — which is a slight shift, given the fact that previously Quantra was the sole supplier of Glass.

Google isn’t the only company working on augmented reality glasses. Apple is reportedly working on AR glasses of its own, through recent reports suggest that Apple is taking a break in the development of the new device.

Christian de Looper

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Topics

Computing

Qualcomm is set to ratchet up chip prices in September, and your next gadget upgrade could bear the brunt

The price hike could touch every Snapdragon-powered device category.

The new Qualcomm Snadragon 8 Elite Gen 5

I want you to sit with this for a second. Qualcomm, the company whose Snapdragon chips sit inside your Android phone and tablet, your Windows laptop, your Meta smart glasses, your Galaxy Watch, and your wireless earbuds, reportedly sent a letter to every major customer telling them prices are going up by double digits.

The price hike will be in effect from September 1, 2026, a recent Bloomberg report claims. Essentially, all the companies placing their chip orders after that will pay a higher price.

Wearables

Slacked off all summer? Here are 3 fitness trackers that’ll help you stay accountable as you head back to school

Three trackers, three price points, three totally different approaches to keeping you honest about your own goals.

A person wearing the Whoop 5.0.

Summer break did what it usually does. Your sleep schedule drifted, workouts happened less often than you'd hoped, and by the time August rolled around, you were feeling it. You've got a plan to get back on track once the school year starts and your days have more structure, but you know how that usually goes. The first two weeks are solid, then the routine quietly slips.

A fitness tracker won't get you off your couch. What it will do is put a number in front of you every day, one that makes it obvious whether you stuck to your goal or slacked off. That small bit of visibility is often the difference between meaning to work out and actually doing it. Back-to-school season is a good time to buy in, since you're already resetting more than one part of your routine, and the overlap makes the habit more likely to stick. To keep the odds in your favor, here are three fitness trackers that can help you stay accountable and actually hit your goals.

Wearables

Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Watch Series 11: Has Apple finally met its smartwatch match?

From AI-powered health coaching to outdoor fitness tracking, here's how Samsung's Galaxy Watch 9 stacks up against Apple's Watch Series 11.

Wristwatch, Arm, Body Part

These days, the real battleground between smartwatches is who can turn a wrist-worn, sensor-loaded device into something that resembles a personal fitness trainer, and this year's crop of flagship wearables takes that fight more seriously than ever.

Samsung just refreshed its mainstream Galaxy Watch line with a new silicon and a batch of clinically-backed health tools, landing squarely on Apple's home turf of preventive wellness tracking. Apple, for its part, has spent the better part of a year letting its Series 11 sit as the reigning pick for anyone inside its ecosystem, propped up by a software catalog few rivals match feature-for-feature.