Google hopes to entice programmers to its Glass Developer Kit with offline access and demos from real-time word translation to exercise tracking. November 19, 2013 12:00 PM PST At Google's unveiling of its Glass Development Kit in San Francisco, the company showed off a third-party app that translates text on the fly. (Credit: James Martin/CNET) SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Glass has taken a major step towards being ready for the public as Google unveils its Glass Development Kit at a Glass hackathon on Tuesday. The development kit, or GDK, gives developers access to parts of Glass that have previously been under lock and key. Developers now can write Glass apps that can work even when not connected to the Internet; that work in real-time; and that utilize the hardware accelerometer and GPS. Related stories: iPad Mini's Retina Display finishes last in small-screen review Google displays Lincoln's handwritten Gettysburg Address BlackBerry Z10 Porsche Edition debuts at grand price Google pays those who find Android security glitches Google finishes 2,048-bit security upgrade for Web privacy Addressing the 100 or so developers who were invited to the hackathon, Timothy Jordan, Glass's senior developer advocate at Google, told them that even though the company hasn't made installing Glass apps easy, more than 83 percent of all Glass owners have installed at least one. "The GDK will give you a way to build services for users in a natural and everyday way in their lives," Jordan said. Up until now, developers have only been able to develop with the Mirror API. The GDK opens up more programming options, so that developers can access the location provider; control the camera; insert voice commands and triggers into the options menu; create live cards; and detect gestures on the touchpad. Severla companies were also present at the hackathon to demo app that they built thanks to early access to the GDK. One of the most impressive was a Glassware app called Wordlens, which translates printed words and replaces them with the target language. Google releases Glass Development Kit (pictures) 1-2 of 14 Scroll Left Scroll Right The app can take a German warning sign such as, "Bergweg betreten auf eigene Gefahr," and replace the printed words with, "Mountain path enter on own danger," when looking through Glass. The app wasn't perfect, and its developers said that it might not work with smaller fonts, such as those on restaurant menus. But the app clearly showed the potential utility of Glass that Google is hoping for. Other apps demoed included AllTheCooks, for hands-free cooking directions and recipe management; Strava's exercise trackers for running and bicycling; the word game Spellista; and GolfSight, which can reveal fairway distances and help you keep score of your golf game as you play. Google is not ready to reveal all its plans for Google Glass development. Jordan said he was unable to talk about user security yet, for example, beyond the remote locate and wipe features that come with Glass. Glass owners can install new apps from their MyGlass home pages after 3 p.m. PDT today.
Google hopes to entice programmers to its Glass Developer Kit with offline access and demos from real-time word translation to exercise tracking.
At Google's unveiling of its Glass Development Kit in San Francisco, the company showed off a third-party app that translates text on the fly.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Glass has taken a major step towards being ready for the public as Google unveils its Glass Development Kit at a Glass hackathon on Tuesday.
The development kit, or GDK, gives developers access to parts of Glass that have previously been under lock and key. Developers now can write Glass apps that can work even when not connected to the Internet; that work in real-time; and that utilize the hardware accelerometer and GPS.
Related stories:
- iPad Mini's Retina Display finishes last in small-screen review
- Google displays Lincoln's handwritten Gettysburg Address
- BlackBerry Z10 Porsche Edition debuts at grand price
- Google pays those who find Android security glitches
- Google finishes 2,048-bit security upgrade for Web privacy
Addressing the 100 or so developers who were invited to the hackathon, Timothy Jordan, Glass's senior developer advocate at Google, told them that even though the company hasn't made installing Glass apps easy, more than 83 percent of all Glass owners have installed at least one.
"The GDK will give you a way to build services for users in a natural and everyday way in their lives," Jordan said.
Up until now, developers have only been able to develop with the Mirror API. The GDK opens up more programming options, so that developers can access the location provider; control the camera; insert voice commands and triggers into the options menu; create live cards; and detect gestures on the touchpad.
Severla companies were also present at the hackathon to demo app that they built thanks to early access to the GDK. One of the most impressive was a Glassware app called Wordlens, which translates printed words and replaces them with the target language.
The app can take a German warning sign such as, "Bergweg betreten auf eigene Gefahr," and replace the printed words with, "Mountain path enter on own danger," when looking through Glass.
The app wasn't perfect, and its developers said that it might not work with smaller fonts, such as those on restaurant menus. But the app clearly showed the potential utility of Glass that Google is hoping for.
Other apps demoed included AllTheCooks, for hands-free cooking directions and recipe management; Strava's exercise trackers for running and bicycling; the word game Spellista; and GolfSight, which can reveal fairway distances and help you keep score of your golf game as you play.
Google is not ready to reveal all its plans for Google Glass development. Jordan said he was unable to talk about user security yet, for example, beyond the remote locate and wipe features that come with Glass.
Glass owners can install new apps from their MyGlass home pages after 3 p.m. PDT today.
