Google Glass Eric Schmidt

Google chief says Glass is very much alive – but it will ‘take time’ to perfect

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

March 24, 2015 | 2 min read

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has lashed out at media reports that the company has taken a step back from the development of Google Glass.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal Schmidt admitted that the search giant is still developing Google Glass despite earlier this year ceasing production of prototypes and shutting the Explorer programme which enabled developers to pick up the tech for £1,000.

Earlier this year, the news emerged that Glass was to be “redesigned form scratch” by Tony Fadell, chief executive of Nest, “until it’s perfect”.

Schmidt said: “It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google. We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us cancelling the whole project, which isn’t true.

“Google is about taking risks and there’s nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we’re ending it.”

He compared the criticism of the unfinished Google Glass to that of driverless cars: “That’s like saying the self-driving car is a disappointment because it’s not driving me around now, these things take time… to make it ready for users.”

This comes after Google went back to the drawing board with Glass in January, pulling the devices from sale.

Google Glass Eric Schmidt

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