Google Glass Adds Prescription Frames, Insurance Coverage: Inching Towards Wider Release
It's been a year in the making, but the next phase of Google Glass is about to hit: Google announced its new face-wearable computing devices, Glass, will be compatible with prescription lenses, giving the devices a little more style and much more usability for the four-eyed among us.
Called the Titanium Collection, the new Glass incarnation comes with a few different frames that can be fitted with prescription lenses. As Google said in its announcement on Glass's Google+ page, "If we had a nickel for every time someone has asked about prescription lenses for Glass... well, we'd have a lot of nickels. So we want you to be the first to know that the Titanium Collection is here, with a handful of new styles for Glass so you can make it your own. Whether you wear prescription glasses or just want a new look, we've got four feather-light titanium frames designed just for you."
Besides making Glass available for those who actually wear glasses, the new Google Glass, which is still in its beta "Explorer" phase, is an attempt to make the computing device that sits in front of users' eyes a little less awkward and more fashionable. For example, compare the top picture with this Explorer, wearing Glass over his glasses:
In addition, those covered by U.S. vision insurer VSP - which insures Google employees, as well as covering a large market of some 30,000 optometrists and 60 million people -- will be able to get a reimbursement for some of the cost of the Titanium frames under their health benefits, thanks to a partnership between the Moutainview Giant and VSP.
"We're going to reach some day, hopefully it will be soon, where people will wonder 'why would I want traditional glasses? They don't do X, Y or Z,' " said Google Glass Product Director Steve Lee to CNN. Google says it is still moving towards a wider consumer launch sometime in 2014, but has continued to be reserved in putting a specific release date or price on the now-third incarnation of Glass. One thing is certain, while hardware competitors like Samsung are only rumored to introduce a pair of their own smartglasses in 2014, Google is busy putting all of the pieces in place for a larger launch this year.
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