We haven’t heard too much about Google Glass since the company decided to halt sales last summer, but there have been rumors of an enterprise-focused version of the wearable. Now, it appears a pawn shop in San Francisco has gotten its hands on the unreleased device. An eBay listing shows a few pictures of the headset, which has a couple notable changes from the Explorer edition released in 2013. The listing was first spotted by 9to5Google.
The pictured device has a foldable hinge so the headset can be folded up more like a traditional pair of eyewear. There’s also a proprietary power and data port that looks more like Apple’s MagSafe technology than the Micro USB port used on the original. Photos of the device were first uncovered last year in an FCC filing, but this listing provides a closer look.
It’s like an episode of Pawn Stars
According to rumors, this version of Glass also has a larger prism display that can provides more information at once. In addition, it’s said that there’s an LED indicator that turns on when the camera is recording, hopefully making bystanders a bit more comfortable when someone’s wearing Glass. The enterprise version is supposed to have a more power-efficient processor, better battery life, and 5GHz Wi-Fi support as well, though that cannot be confirmed from these photos. To make it suitable for work environments, this version of Glass is also supposed to be water resistant and a bit more sturdy.
It’s not clear what Google ever decided to do with this version of Glass, which, admittedly, is quite similar to the original Explorer edition that was sold to early adopters for $1,500. Reports claimed that it would only be sold in certain business environments, with the idea that companies would provide their own custom software for proprietary tasks. Since then, Google has placed its Glass unit under its Project Aura group, led by Nest’s Tony Fadell. It’s rumored that the group is working on some radically different Glass designs, including some that have no display at all, but Google has kept it all under wraps so far. That said, it is still possible that Google could decide to release this headset.
It’s unknown how this particular Glass headset — which is likely an internal unit for testing — made it into a pawn shop’s hands. A representative for A to Z Pawnbrokers, which has multiple locations around the San Francisco Bay Area, confirmed that it was selling the headset on eBay, but could not provide information on where it came from.
- Via9to5Google
- SourceeBay (azpawnbroker)
Article source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/19/11269910/google-glass-enterprise-edition-pictures-ebay-listing