Google Glass has become increasingly popular, as the preliminary Glass Explorers program keeps expanding.
There are around 10,000 people in the program, testing the first version of the Glass, for which they paid around $1,500.
In October, Google Glass told explorers that they had the opportunity to invite three friends to join the program, in order to expand it even further.
The official release date is slated for sometime this year, but hasn’t been specified by Google employees. Eric Schmidt, head of Google, hinted in an interview with BBC in April 2013 that “it’s probably a year-ish away,” meaning that Glass could be fully released in April 2014.
The price is also up in the air.
The units definitely won’t stay at $1,500, analysts agree. Experts who spoke with Nasdaq calculated that it costs less than $210 to make each advice.
Technology blogger and Glass Explorer Robert Scoble said that the success of the device “totally depends on the price.” He has asked audiences during public talks how much they would pay. Many were reluctant when presented with a hypothetical $500 price, but “literally every hand went up” when they were asked whether they'd purchase Glass at $200.
At least one analyst, with the Topology Research Institute, has pegged the initial price at $299.
Google has been frequently updating the current version of Glass, including introducing a wink function where users can take pictures by winking.
Check out a demo video below.
