Google shows off Glass apps at SXSW

HARDWARE DESIGNER Google showed off a clutch of apps for its upcoming Glass eyewear at the South by South West (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas on Monday.

Google Glass is slated to appear later this year with price tag of $1,500 and to show what is possible with the device the firm showed off how to navigate the interface and native applications on Monday. The firm showed off Gmail, New York Times, Evernote and Skitch apps that were specially designed for Google Glass.

Timothy Jordan, a senior developer evangelist for Project Glass at Google showed the audience how to interact with Google Glass, showing off the firm's card based interface. Jordan also showed how pictures captured from Google Glass can be sent to other devices, allowing for editing. Jordan also urged app developers not to bombard users with notifications.

Google Glass is the company's entry into the wearable computing market that is widely expected to take off in the coming years. However the firm might find that social acceptance of the device will initially limit sales potential.

Over the weekend a Seattle bar banned Google Glass for privacy reasons, which could set the ball rolling for other public spaces to limit the use of Google Glass. The 5 Point Café's ban comes months before Google Glass will go on sale.

Privacy issues aside, Google's demonstration showed how its own services such as Gmail, Google+ and its voice recognition service will be central to the functionality of Google Glass, all of which should demonstrate why Google wants to design its own hardware. µ