The last week has seen a couple of significant updates to the Glass firmware. Just a couple of hours ago Glass updated to 18.11, so let’s see what some of the new features are in the Google Glass firmware update.
The first one is an experimental feature to the Google Glass firmware update that came through a few days ago called glance notification. Usually when you hear a chime to notify you of a message, you have to either touch your glass or tilt your head to activate it. Now when that chime comes through, all you have to do it move your eyeball up to the screen and it will light up with the message, which you can then respond to. It doesn’t work all the time but when it does you do feel like Glass is intuitively responding to you, kind of like Google Now made flesh – or titanium and plastic. and the great thing is it’s all hands free from recieving the message to replying.
The next feature on the Google Glass firmware update is one of the new ones from the latest 18.1 release, and it also requires the latest version of the MyGlass app. Whenever you take a shot, it will appear automatically on your MyGlass app, and you can then open it in, add a filter, crop it, and share socially or just save – and to be honest it’s such an obvious feature that it now seems weird without it. The great thing is that like Direct Wifi, there’s no data connection required, it’s a straight line from your Glass to your smartphone.
The next couple of features from the Google Glass firmware update are smaller ones but could be useful if you are A) a football fanatic or B) a car driver.
First up is FIFA World cup update service. Set up your google now account to set up your favourite teams of the World Cup and you’ll get score updates come through as part of your google now card pile.
Parking location is another feature which sounds pretty useful, this one will help you remember where you parked your car and provide a map to get you back as soon as possible.
Another Google Glass firmware update is package tracking, which will show you updates about purchases you made from Amazon and alert you when it gets to your door.
In my short time with Glass, battery anxiety is very high on my agenda. The latest MyGlass app will now alert you on your smartphone when your Glass gets to 20% capacity – definitely time to store or charge soon if you get that message.
So with the latest round of updates, there’s definitely more functionality and usability coming through – and as someone very new to Glass, it’s definitely been cool to see so many updates come through so quickly.