Google Glass gets software update: Power use tweaked, Google+ in sight
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The next time the select few owners of Google Glass charge up their high-tech specs, they'll receive a significant software update that brings a dozen fixes and changes.
According to reports, Google pushed out the over the air update, dubbed XE5, to owners of the XEB model on Tuesday night. It delivers a host of new features including Google+ functionality and Hangout notifications as well as faster query and message transcription.
The update also implements a sync policy should save on battery life and data by requiring both power and wi-fi connection before making any background uploads. The update also delivers a more reliable estimate of how much battery charge is remaining, according to the changelog.
The update's changelog, according to Phandroid, include:
- Change to sync policy: require power + WiFi for background uploads
- Crash reporting
- Incoming G+ notifications (direct shares, comments, +mentions), including ability to comment and +1
- Incoming Hangout notifications
- Transcription of queries & messages is now wicked-fast
- Long-press to search from anywhere in the UI (no longer just from off)
- International number dialing + SMS
- Hop animation on disallowed swipes in the UI
- New On-Head Detection calibration flow
- Show device Serial Number on Device Info card
- More reliable estimation of battery charge remaining
- New recipient-list mosaic
Yahoo developers could be among those to get the update, after Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer told a conference yesterday that the company was experimenting with Google Glass.
According to Mayer, developers are looking at how Glass could work with Yahoo products in future. There's no word on when, or even whether, Yahoo is planning to release Glass apps, however.