Not Surprisingly, Google Glass Will Be Compatible With The iPhone

While I’m still personally waiting for the rumored Apple iWatch to make an appearance this year, The Verge’s Joshua Toplosky has an interesting, hands-on look at the Google Glass project. The entire, comprehensive piece is definitely worth a read. But probably the most interesting news, at least for Apple fans, is that the wearable computer will be compatible with the iPhone:

The device gets data through Wi-Fi on its own, or it can tether via Bluetooth to an Android device or iPhone and use its 3G or 4G data while out and about. There’s no cellular radio in Glass, but it does have a GPS chip.

Google has also recently released a teaser video of the Glass experience. Click here if you can’t see it. Toplosky said his time using Glass was very similar to the video:

Let me start by saying that using it is actually nearly identical to what the company showed off in its newest demo video. That’s not CGI — it’s what Glass is actually like to use. It’s clean, elegant, and makes relative sense. The screen is not disruptive, you do not feel burdened by it. It is there and then it is gone. It’s not shocking. It’s not jarring. It’s just this new thing in your field of vision. And it’s actually pretty cool.

Google is hoping to officially bring the product to market sometime this year for less than $1,500. Toplosky came away from the experience with an overall positive attitude:

Is it ready for the everyone right now? Not really. Does the Glass team still have huge distance to cover in making the experience work just the way it should every time you use it? Definitely. But I walked away convinced that this wasn’t just one of Google’s weird flights of fancy. The more I used Glass the more it made sense to me; the more I wanted it. If the team had told me I could sign up to have my current glasses augmented with Glass technology, I would have put pen to paper (and money in their hands) right then and there. And it’s that kind of stuff that will make the difference between this being a niche device for geeks and a product that everyone wants to experience. After a few hours with Glass, I’ve decided that the question is no longer ‘if,’ but ‘when?’

Even though it looks interesting, I still wonder if Glass is just a proof-of-concept of the technology we’ll be seeing in the next decade. I’m much more excited about an iWatch because it probably will be more of a secondary device that is designed to better the already proven iOS experience. And it’ll help that it won’t cost more than a MacBook, I hope.

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