Sony's SmartEyeglass
Sony’s attempts to out-trump internet search giant Google have begun now that its SmartEyeglass is available for developers to tinker with in the US, Europe and Asia.
Google Glass’ demise is well-known at this stage, with Google admitting defeat in its chances of selling the smartglasses on the mass market, but over in Japan this appears to be far from the case.
According to Sony’s dedicated developer website created for its smartglasses, the hardware is rather different from Google’s original singular, sleek optical display, as the SmartEyeglass is a thick-rimmed black pair of glasses with a separate controller that houses its ability to connect to the internet and other devices.
Putting emphasis heavily on augmented reality (AR) with the ability to follow GPS directions, see text messages and other live information, the SmartEyeglass is seemingly not expected to blow the world away upon its initial release.
To be designated the SED-E1, the kit will be on sale from March starting with Japan, the US, the UK and Germany, priced at 100,000 yen, US$840, stg£520 and €670, respectively.
Sony has also confirmed the SED-E1 will be available for pre-orders from a number of other European countries, including France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, according to CNet.
The question remains, however, will the SmartEyeglass’ bulky stature and need for an external controller go down well with the public who already felt the idea of the more conspicuous Google Glass was a bit too much?
