It looks like consumers are going to have to wait more than a year before they actually get their hands on the wearable tech from Google. Google Glass was originally expected to be available to consumers later this year; unfortunately it looks like that date has slipped significantly.
Google recently announced that it expected to begin selling Google Glass to consumers within a year. Google is currently testing Google Glass with developers and winners of the Explorer Program. Google allowed anyone to enter a contest to win the chance to use Glass before the public and purchase the device for $1,500. Essentially Google is using a slick PR move to capitalize on Glass by choosing celebrities as winners and tech aficionados to test out Glass.
During a seminar in Washington on the Internet and freedom of expression, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt recently confirmed that Google Glass will take longer than the company originally anticipated to reach consumers:
"You should assume that it will take us a while, to take stock of their feedback. It's extremely early. Think of this as beta testing, and Google beta-tests for a while and hopefully we get it right."
It's unclear how long this beta test is going to last, but some of Google's beta tests lasted years before being taken out of beta. There have been reports of issues plaguing Google Glass ever since the company shipped the devices to users. Users have complained of extremely poor battery life, even though Google claims the battery should last for a full day of use.
It appears that before Google ships a half-baked product to consumers, it is going to take the time to really test out the new wearable tech to avoid criticism for any types of issues. That is where the Explorer program was a clever idea; Google will get tons of feedback and testing from users beta testing Google Glass. Sometimes it's better to delay a product than to ship one with issues that consumers will eventually uncover and complain about, and Google is a company that does not like to be embarrassed.
