Google Glass Successor To Sport Larger Prism, Intel Chip
Google probably doesn't have the word "quit" in its vocabulary. After the lukewarm, almost negative, reception of Google Glass, the tech giant seems to be well on the way in making a second one. But this time, instead of trying to appeal to the fickle and vocal masses, Google Glass 2 will instead be marketed to the enterprise, hence its other monitor of Google Glass Enterprise Edition. But more than just a name change, this version will have rather substantial changes, including a wider viewing glass and a switch to an Intel processor.
These changes are supposedly meant to address some of the remaining complaints about the first Google Glass, the Explorer edition. One of those was the eyestrain caused by having to train their eyes to the upper right corner of their peripheral vision. The Enterprise version then will supposedly have a longer prism glass that will most likely span the entire length of the right eye so that users will only need to look up instead of in two directions at once. Whether that makes it more distracting, however, remains to be seen.
Another change is the switch from an ARM processor to an Intel, an Atom to be exact. While there have been rumors of this already, this is the first time that there is word of an actual switch taking place. The change is still surprising and puzzling to some extent. Intel's Atoms have never been the crowd favorite when it came to mobile devices, much less very constrained ones like this. Still, the chip maker has made strides in improving its mobile processors and this could very well be the proof that Intel needs.
Considering that Intel Atoms aren't exactly known for their long battery life, at least compared with ARM chips, it seems almost ironic, if not incredible, that insider sources are claiming that the Google Glass Enterprise edition actually has a better battery life, another pain point in the older Explorer edition. Heat management is also said to be improved, which is another area where Atoms are traditionally not good at. But if the slight battery improvement isn't enough, Google is tipped to offer an external battery pack to supplement it.
There is no word yet on when Google is planning to launch this Enterprise edition. It seems that it has at least learned some of the hard lessons of the previous Google Glass incarnation. This time, it isn't going to treat its audience as beta testers but will only put it out once it's really done.
VIA: 9to5Google