Google Glass now on sale in the US

Google Glass has gone on widespread sale over in the States again, although only richer gadget fans will want to get a piece of the action, as the device is still priced at $1,500 which represents quite a premium.

In mid-April, Google made Glass available to anyone, but just for a one day sale -- and by all accounts units sold out swiftly.

Now Google says it's moving to an open beta with the hardware, whereby it will be on sale as long as the company has stock to hand.

Google stated: "We learned a lot when we opened our site a few weeks ago, so we've decided to move to a more open beta. We're still in the Explorer Program while we continue to improve our hardware and software, but starting today anyone in the US can buy the Glass Explorer Edition, as long as we have it on hand".

You can sign up for the program here, if you live in the US -- those outside the States are still out of luck, of course. On that subject, Lisa Wray, an Android dev at Google, said: "To everyone outside the US... we know. Sorry :( We're just not ready yet to bring Glass to other countries".

She also mentioned that the number of spots will be limited for joining today in the US, so presumably the hardware is going to sell out pretty swiftly again -- but stock should be replenished before too long, at least going by what Google says on its Google+ account for Google Glass.

Google Glass has long been controversial, with many incidents having occurred such as people being assaulted for wearing one, and the specs provoke a general atmosphere of paranoia from some, which Google has tried to counter with things like a list of Google Glass myths.

The big G is also trying to overcome the fashion flak it has received over the device, which isn't something most people would proudly wear -- hence the deal with the maker of Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses to develop a trendier, more acceptable design. Though a more disguised and normal looking pair of glasses could provoke even more suspicion from folks if they suspect they might be being secretly recorded (at least with the current iteration, you can't miss the fact that someone is wearing Google Glass).

All this is heading towards a rumored release at the end of this year, at least in the US, anyway; who knows when Glass will grace the UK.

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