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Just acquired 2 Google Glass devices

TheHateMachine

TheHateMachine

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 18, 2012
846
1,354
So my hospital ordered 2 Google Glass devices when Google was running a promo to let anyone buy one. Our plan is to use them in our Pediatrics unit to let kids make their stay in the unit more enjoyable.

Just got them today and we have been running some tests to figure out what they can do. I have so far gotten them to sync up with an iPhone 5s and a Samsung Note 2.

So far with the iPhone the experience has been fairly lackluster while the Android experience offered everything. There is really no surprise there. Voice recognition seems to be pretty awesome and the device is fairly quick when swiping through menus, using apps and making vid calls. I'd have to gripe about the battery as heavy use can redline the battery in about 1 1/2 hours. I guess medium to light use will make it last about 4-6 hours.

The device is still fairly betaness and the setup process had a hitch (Was due to data on my phone but neither the app nor device would tell me that was the issue) All in all I would pick this device up if it had a reasonable price and the flaws were resolved. It is pretty cool despite its flaws.

Any of you mess with a Google Glass yet? How was your experience?
 
MRU

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
Battery life needs to be wildly improved for wearables. If anything we need full day battery from a wearable device to make it viable..
 
spriter

spriter

macrumors 65816
May 13, 2004
1,460
586
MacRumorUser said:
Battery life needs to be wildly improved for wearables. If anything we need full day battery from a wearable device to make it viable..
Click to expand...


Yeah, this is the Achilles heel. Like the idea but not unless it can go a day at least. How about a solar cell or two on the frame?!
 
nfl46

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,349
8,704
Price it for around $299, then people will become more interested. But at $1,500...definitely not worth it. I'll wait a few years for it to improve, and the price will gradually decline.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,478
43,405
Most people seem to be put off with someone wearing google glass - I'm personally not enticed by them.
 
pdqgp

pdqgp

macrumors 68020
Mar 23, 2010
2,131
5,460
nfl46 said:
Price it for around $299, then people will become more interested. But at $1,500...definitely not worth it. I'll wait a few years for it to improve, and the price will gradually decline.
Click to expand...

^^ this. I have access to them at work and I'm meh...about what it does. I do lots of racing both in cards and bikes and would like to have it only as a go-pro like use but rather than a camera suctioned onto something it would be nice to have it streamlined and integrated into my glasses or helmet.

Day to day, I'd rather use my phone to do whatever else I need.
 
Dr McKay

Dr McKay

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2010
3,430
57
Kirkland
nfl46 said:
Price it for around $299, then people will become more interested. But at $1,500...definitely not worth it. I'll wait a few years for it to improve, and the price will gradually decline.
Click to expand...

That's just for the explorer, on the tear down they priced the parts at $80. So I would be shocked if the commercial units launched at anywhere near $1000.
 
lotzosushi

lotzosushi

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2007
432
401
The price premium right now is because it's still not ready for mass consumer use. (It's technically still in beta?) There's a LOT that needs to be improved, namely battery life as mentioned by others. Mine lasts maybe 2-3 hours at MOST with light usage and video recording.

Random nitpicks:

-I found it annoying that you can't disable e-mail/message previews. When you wear it, of course all your friends and family want to try it too. But they also have access to your private email and messages :mad: and you can't really tell if they're being nosy or not while they're trying it.

-Google photo auto backup is turned on by default... I didn't realize that until I noticed I lost around 5GB of storage from the Glass auto-transferring my photos/videos taken onto my phone. WHILE TETHERED!! :eek: wasting my precious data. I had to change so many settings on my Google account before I found a way to disable this. There is no way to turn this off in Android or the Glass App. I eventually deactivated my Google+ account cause I got so frustrated.

-Probably the biggest issue...wearing it in public. It's hard to avoid stares as you walk down the street with every single person that passes by staring at your face. It's more uncomfortable for you than the passerby I think. And if you're in a shady area you're always gonna worry about someone jumping out at you and snatching your glasses. Cause everyone that knows what it is pretty much thinks HEY LOOK THERE'S $1,500 attached to your face!! Kind of sad people end up assuming you're just another Gl*******. I mainly got it for when I go exploring in nature, hiking and such. It's kind of neat to have a POV video without having to hold a camera in your hand. Video and sound quality are pretty darn good for a device that small.

...the novelty kind of wears off fast, mostly due to society condemning you as a Gl******* as soon as they see you wear it and people are always scared you're filming them =/ Mine has been sitting in my drawer for a few months now.
 
TheHateMachine

TheHateMachine

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 18, 2012
846
1,354
lotzosushi said:
The price premium right now is because it's still not ready for mass consumer use. (It's technically still in beta?) There's a LOT that needs to be improved, namely battery life as mentioned by others. Mine lasts maybe 2-3 hours at MOST with light usage and video recording.

Random nitpicks:

-I found it annoying that you can't disable e-mail/message previews. When you wear it, of course all your friends and family want to try it too. But they also have access to your private email and messages :mad: and you can't really tell if they're being nosy or not while they're trying it.

-Google photo auto backup is turned on by default... I didn't realize that until I noticed I lost around 5GB of storage from the Glass auto-transferring my photos/videos taken onto my phone. WHILE TETHERED!! :eek: wasting my precious data. I had to change so many settings on my Google account before I found a way to disable this. There is no way to turn this off in Android or the Glass App. I eventually deactivated my Google+ account cause I got so frustrated.

-Probably the biggest issue...wearing it in public. It's hard to avoid stares as you walk down the street with every single person that passes by staring at your face. It's more uncomfortable for you than the passerby I think. And if you're in a shady area you're always gonna worry about someone jumping out at you and snatching your glasses. Cause everyone that knows what it is pretty much thinks HEY LOOK THERE'S $1,500 attached to your face!! Kind of sad people end up assuming you're just another Gl*******. I mainly got it for when I go exploring in nature, hiking and such. It's kind of neat to have a POV video without having to hold a camera in your hand. Video and sound quality are pretty darn good for a device that small.

...the novelty kind of wears off fast, mostly due to society condemning you as a Gl******* as soon as they see you wear it and people are always scared you're filming them =/ Mine has been sitting in my drawer for a few months now.
Click to expand...

By the way, if you go to in the Photos app on your Android device there is a way to turn off auto backup in settings. I had mine turned off prior to getting this device and it never auto uploaded.

Also, the camera does seem to take some great video and has some good sound. I started recording my commute to and from work with it just because and was amazed at how well the camera performed.
 
lotzosushi

lotzosushi

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2007
432
401
Yeah I probably needed to turn it off prior to installing Glass but I spent like 2 hours trying to find a setting on my Nexus 5 and nothing worked. Turning off all auto sync/Google+ settings didn't get rid of the backed up content. It was basically stuck on my device till I plugged it into a computer and manually deleted them. :(
 
I

inselstudent

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2012
617
4
spriter said:
Yeah, this is the Achilles heel. Like the idea but not unless it can go a day at least. How about a solar cell or two on the frame?!
Click to expand...

My guess is that it'd be more efficient to somehow use the movement the wearer does while wearing the device.
 
A

AbyssImpact

macrumors 6502a
Aug 6, 2010
804
17
Never wear these out in public. Anyone can easily snatch it off your face and poof there goes $1500...
 
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