Due to the current market launches of different technologies, Google decided that it is time to remind the world that they were first
Google is well-known for not staying away from expensive experiments that are left aside. Usually, these projects remain lifeless unless they are taken up by the community. Google decided to surprise the world and push an update to the MyGlass app, and another one to the Google Glass firmware.
Close to the end of 2014, Google Glass was out of the spotlight. All signs pointed to the death of the controversial wearable device. In early 2015, the already limited sales of Glass were faded into obscurity. The only slight signs of life were from a possible version 2 that was meant for enterprise customers and industry workers.
However, things turned a few days a go, when Android Police caught an update to the MyGlass companion app; it solved the long-standing complaints and wishes about the way the device works. For example, users can now have notifications displayed both on their Android Wear smartwatch and on Glass.
More importantly, the app has been updated to be compatible with the more recent Android versions. The supported API was raised from API Level 17, to level 22 that now works on Android 5.1 Lollipop. Furthermore, it also takes into consideration new power management policies and asks users if they want to keep the app running in the background at the cost of more battery usage.
Consequently, Google may have not completely forget about Google Glass, if it has been silently working on it this entire time. There is one questions that remains in the air: Why now? Perhaps the popularity of mixed reality platforms such as Microsoft’s HoloLens and Apple’s ARKit has made Google feel the need to resurrect Glass and remind everyone that they were there first.
