Google announces better Glass, new Glassware

Following feedback received from early adopters (known as Explorers), Google has announced a significantly revised Glass wearable. But, unlike prior iterations, it looks like this one will not be available as a free-of-charge upgrade for current users, who will now have to pay full price to get the latest and greatest.

The improved Google Glass is touted to offer better performance courtesy of a RAM capacity increase to 2 GB, which is 1 GB more than before (prior versions only allowed 682 MB of RAM to be effectively used, making the difference quite substantial). There are also more Google Now cards available, which will display extra information like shipping delivery estimates and car location.

The "OK Glass, show the viewfinder" voice command triggers the new camera viewfinder, which makes it easy to frame shots and get the composition you want. Taking a picture is done as before, by saying "OK Glass, take a picture", winking or pressing the camera button.

As far as Glassware (Google Glass software) goes, there are a dozen or so new apps making their way to the wearable. New additions include personal trainer Runtastic, newspaper The Guardian, game Zombies, Run!, music recognition Shazam and lyric finder MusicXmatch.

Google Glass users responding to the Google+ post announcing the revised model have expressed their disappointment regarding the search giant's decision not to give them a free upgrade, mention how to trade-in an older model for the latest one, and keep the device out of the price reach of many.