Android-powered Google Glasses: The augmented reality HUD dream is coming

It’s about time: By the end of 2012, Google will launch a pair of Android-powered, augmented reality, head-up display (HUD) glasses. Anonymous Google employees, speaking to The New York Times, say that the glasses will resemble a pair of Oakley Thumps (pictured above), will have 3G or 4G connectivity, a forward-facing camera, GPS, and a full array of movement sensors. They will cost “around the price of current smartphones.”

Unlike Google’s upcoming home entertainment system, a pair of wearable Google Glasses makes an awful lot of sense. Google’s arsenal of real-time, mobile, location-aware services is second to none; Search, Latitude, Goggles(!), Maps, Places/Hotpot, Navigation, AdSense, Transit, Wallet, Offers, Product Search, Translate, Voice, Music — each and every one of them could be built into a pair of Android-based spectacles, and boy would the end result be awesome.

Let’s take a look at what life with a pair of Googgles would be like.

You wake up, shower, and put on your Google specs. Latitude records your movement and marks you as “awake.” Brushing your teeth in front of the mirror, Maps tells you that there’s traffic on the way to work. Hopping into the car, Navigation shows you a different route to work. As you pass Dunkin’ Donuts, Places warns you that the remains of a rat were recently found in a cup of coffee — but at the same time, Offers tells you that a cup of coffee and a donut is only $1. While stopped at some lights, you check out a hottie crossing the road, and Goggles pops up their Google+ profile. You could even snap a photo or quick video, with that front-facing camera. At the office, or perhaps back at home in front of the TV, Translate would mean that you can understand any written or spoken language.

All the while, Music is piping favorite tunes through your earbuds — or perhaps via Bluetooth to your car stereo or your Google home entertainment system — and Wallet means you never have to reach for your credit card or train ticket. It goes without saying, of course, that you could also make phone calls — either with 3G/4G Voice VoIP, or plain old GSM.

In short, Google could finally kick start the wearable computer dream. This has been a long time coming, and ultimately inevitable given the continued miniaturization and commoditization of computer chips.

As utopian as this sounds, though, it’s important to ground Google’s AR glasses in reality. To begin with, the first Google Glasses will only have a subset of the features listed above. Battery power density remains an ever-present issue, too, both in terms of bulkiness and longevity — though with a much smaller display than a smartphone or tablet, it’s possible that the Googgles won’t be much heavier than a pair of active 3D glasses, and a few hours of active use should be possible.

Then there are the privacy, security, and ethical repercussions to consider. The New York Times piece mentions that Google X labs, the team behind the glasses, wants to “ensure that people know if they are being recorded by someone wearing a pair of glasses with a built-in camera.” Obviously, though, the repercussions of a wearable computer that a) knows where you are, and b) what you’re looking at, will require a lot more than a blinking red “record” light on the front of the specs. The phrase “tracking cookie” takes on a whole new meaning when Google also correlates your real-world activities with your online presence. Remember, Google is ultimately an advertising company, where eyeballs directly translate into money — and it’s hard to get any closer to your eyes than a pair of augmented reality glasses. When you look at a car dealership, Google will be able to display ads from a competitor. When you sit in front of a computer, or TV, or stare through a shop window, the glasses will be able to track your head movements and report back on the efficacy of display ads. Perhaps most excitingly, when you read a newspaper or book or other static medium, Google could even overlay its own, interactive ads.

If Google can allay our concerns — or make the experience awesome enough that our concerns melt away — then augmented reality really will be as powerful as I’ve described. It was only yesterday that David and I discussed whether tablets or smartphones would lead the future of mobile computing — and now it seems like we should’ve considered a third option as well: glasses. For Google, assuming it manufactures these glasses through its new Motorola subsidiary, this could finally be a way to generate revenue from something other than search, and without facing off against Apple and Samsung. Genius.

Read more at The New York Times, or check out the Sony SmartAR demo and some in-car examplesto see what augmented reality head-up displays are capable of.

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Windows 8 vs. Mountain Lion: Does Microsoft stand a chance?

The PC is dead.

Let me clarify: The personal computer, as imagined by IBM and powered by Microsoft DOS and Windows, is raggedly exhaling its final breaths. In its place is a great big shuddering heap of conflated, commingled, converging software and hardware led by Apple’s Mountain Lion and Microsoft’s Windows 8.

The shocking thing is just how quickly his convergence has occurred. Released in 2009, both Windows 7 and OS X 10.6 had almost zero cloud-, mobile-, or cross platform features; they were both very much “PC” operating systems. This isn’t to say that you couldn’t add extra functionality through third-party software, but the out-of-the-box experience, which the vast majority of users experience, was very PC.

In stark contrast, if you take a look at Windows 8 and OS X 10.8, both slated for release in the second half of 2012, almost every feature is somehow linked to the cloud, mobile, or home entertainment; these OSes are no longer PC-oriented, but instead the central, converged hubs for your complete digital existence.

Windows 8 and Mountain Lion, using a single sign-on, will use Windows Live and iCloud to sync all of your documents, images, and music between all of your devices. You will be able to buy a Windows 8 tablet that you can use in the livingroom, and then dock it to a keyboard and mouse when you’re at your desk. With AirPlay mirroring and Game Center, Mountain Lion will double up as a home entertainment system, allowing Mac, iPhone, and iPad users to play against each other on an Apple TV. Windows 8 apps will be very easy to port to Windows Phone 8, and Windows 8 apps will automatically sync between five Windows 8 devices (home, office, tablet, and so on).

Furthermore, the difference — and thus friction — between the desktop and mobile OSes is being reduced. In Mountain Lion, a bunch of iOS features have been lifted straight out and inserted into the desktop OS; most notably the Notification Center. Many apps are being renamed so that they match the iOS equivalents, too: iCal becomes Calendar, iChat becomes Messages, and so on. These changes are in addition to Lion’s introduction of an app launcher and gestures that are virtually identical to iOS.

On the Windows side, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that primary interface — the Metro Start Screen — is very similar to the Windows Phone 7 (and 8). The latest update to the Xbox 360 dashboard is also very Metro-inspired (and there are Xbox Live companion apps for both Windows Phone and Windows 8). Finally, there’s a rumor that the Xbox 720 might even be powered by Windows 8. Microsoft insists that the Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 app stores will be separate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if — eventually — phone, console, and tablet/laptop/desktop all share the same Metro app store.

Apple has the upper hand

It’s clear, then, that Microsoft and Apple have both settled on a post-PC reality — but, interestingly both companies are converging from completely different directions. Microsoft is trying to leverage its way into the tablet and phone market by way of its massive Windows user base. Apple, on the flip side, is trying to get iOS users to pony up for a Mac laptop, Apple TV, and eventually an Apple iTV.

The problem, of course, is that Windows 8 is a massive, revolutionary gamble that takes Microsoft way beyond its comfort zone. For 30 years, Microsoft has been making money on x86 PCs and servers, and the Office suite of software. With Windows 8, Microsoft is moving to a brand new architecture, giving away Office for free, doing away with the Start button and menu, and generally making a huge mess of the Desktop/Explorer side of things. Adding to this, Windows Phone 7 is limping along, and there’s no real indication that Windows drives users to the Xbox 360, and vice versa. In short, Microsoft needs Windows 8 to succeed on tablets and drive sales of Windows Phone 8… or it’s screwed.

Apple, on the other hand, has the iPhone and iPad; two of the world’s most desirable mobile devices. On the back of just these two devices, Apple’s fourth quarter revenue was over $46 billion. More than 50 million iPhones and iPads were sold in this period, and it’s really no surprise that the same quarter also saw record breaking sales of Macs. In short, Apple already has a huge head start in The Great Convergence. Apple has already made its revolutionary leaps — way back in 2007 with the iPhone, and again with the iPad in 2010 — and the payoff has been huge. Where Microsoft now has to bet it all on a form factor it has no experience with, Apple has a proven formula that it can tweak and refine.

The only way Microsoft will come out of this alive, and maybe even the winner, is if it differentiates itself from Apple.

Imagine that the path to computing convergence is a thick jungle. Apple is pushing ahead, gradually and sensibly chopping away with a machete and occasionally discovering hidden treasures in (oc)cult temples. The path is only wide enough for one, with no possibility of Microsoft (or Samsung or Google) squeezing past. If Microsoft walks in Apple’s shadow, which so many other companies have done — if it tries to imitate Apple — it will lose. If Microsoft can forge its own path, perhaps with a metaphorical tractor or some good ol’ napalm, it could come out on top.

The good news is that Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are shaping up to being very different beasts to OS X and iOS. Microsoft won’t have the chance to prove that its path to convergence is better than Apple’s until they launch, though — and a lot can happen between now and fall. The iPad 3 and iOS 5.1 are due to be announced any day now, and the Apple iTV should appear before Windows 8, too.

Read more about Windows 8 or iOS

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Google’s indecipherable foray into consumer electronics

In a very out-of-place about-face, it has emerged that Google is about to make its first foray into the realm of consumer electronics. It isn’t an Android phone, Google TV, or Chromebook, however — no, Google’s first in-house device will be… a home entertainment system.

Now, this doesn’t come as a complete surprise: At its I/O conference last year,Google demonstrated Android @ Home, a “smart home” automation system that uses an Android OS-powered “Tungsten” cube as a central hub (pictured below), and a smartphone or tablet as a remote control. At the time we assumed that Tungsten was a prototype device for an OEM (like Logitech or Sony) to work from, but according to The Wall Street Journal it’s going to become a bona fide, Google-designed and -marketed consumer electronics device that will be launched later this year.

Judging by the WSJ’s sources, though, it sounds like the device isn’t a full-blown smart home system; rather, it’s just a WiFi music streamer, much like a Sonos music system. All but confirming the WSJ isan FCC application filed by Google requesting that 252 of its employees test “throughput and stability of home WiFi networks using an entertainment device” between January and July 2012. The FCC filing says that the device will connect to the internet via WiFi and “home electronics” via Bluetooth, which probably means Android smartphones and tablets. We can only guess, but this device will presumably tie in with Google Music(and Google Drive).

Why Google is popping its consumer electronics cherry with a home entertainment system is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a primary color ribbon. At first blush, it really makes very little sense. Sonos, which sells a similar product, had a revenue of $200 million last year — so Google certainly isn’t in it for the money. If the new device does any more than stream music, it will encroach on Google TV territory, too (and a bunch of other media streamers from the likes of Sony and Western Digital).

One possibility is that a music streamer is so far removed from Google’s core search business that Larry Page and co figure they have nothing to lose. If it fails, who cares? If Google failed at designing and marketing its own Android phone, that would be a different matter entirely. Perhaps, then, Google is testing the waters.

This makes even more sense when you factor in Google’s Motorola Mobility imminent acquisition, which is expected to be approved by the Department of Justice next week. In Motorola, Google has a top-notch consumer electronics manufacturer and a real chance to compete with Apple’s vertically integrated software-and-hardware juggernaut. In all likelihood, this home entertainment system will be manufactured by Motorola.

There’s still no avoiding the fact producing hardware devices is completely at odds with Google’s current “more wood behind fewer arrows” push, though. Google has spent the last year shutting down services and consolidating its efforts into Google+, Search, and Android. I don’t see how a home entertainment system fits into that — unless we’re overanalyzing it, of course.

Maybe this home entertainment system is the equivalent of Google dipping its toes into the hardware pond. If this device is well received, maybe the next Nexus device will have Designed by Google in California on the back of it — and then after that, maybe own-brand Google TVs and Chromebooks, too. And after that… primary color retail stores!

Read more at The Wall Street Journal

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