Google Glass isn't just for Google anymore. Google introduced several new third-party applications for its new wearable computer today, including Twitter, Tumblr and, of course, Facebook.
The apps, referred to as "Glassware," were announced on Thursday at Google's annual I/O developers conference in San Francisco, Calif. While Glass has been making a limited appearance at conference, the announcement of the new applications, along with the announcement of a native Glass Development Kit, should reassure some that Glass hasn't been forgotten.
Prior to Thursday's announcement, there were only two apps - Path and The New York Times - available on Glass.
The new apps include breaking news from CNN, fashion clips from Elle, posts from Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr and reminders from Evernote.
CNN's app, for example, lets users pick news alerts to pop up at specific times, read news clips to users aloud and lets users watch video clips over Glass. Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr let users choose who'll appear on their Glass. Facebook lets users take and upload photos to their timeline, and also lets users add captions and choose which group of friend they share the image with. Twitter lets users send and receive tweets, including images, as well as sending direct messages.
Fashion site, Elle, will let users peruse pictures over Glass, and will let users pin stories for later reading - if they don't want them read aloud, that is. Evernote's submission is straightforward: it relays notes in an account to paginated messages on Glass. Finally, Tumblr lets users upload photos, video and text to their Tumblr account, as well as manage any updates that pop up on their Tumblr dashboard.
And there's another application: the first game for Glass. The application is called Ice Breaker and, as Wired notes, it could make awkward events even more awkward. The game works like this: Glass notifies a user of another Glass owner, who's also playing Ice Breaker, nearby. The two owners then find each other, introduce themselves, take a picture of one another and then rate their conversation to earn points.
The applications announced on Thursday are available to Glass owners everywhere.
But when Google releases its Glass Development Kit, which gives developers access to Glass hardware, owners can expect more. There's currently no date on the kit's release.
