Google Glass may have been a flop, but Google isn't giving up on the augmented reality glasses.
Following a recent FCC filing discovery, 9to5Google has revealed details of the next version of Google Glass, which will be reportedly be designed for applications in the enterprise space, as opposed to general consumer use.
Called "Enterprise Edition" (the first generation was called "Explorer Edition"), the updated Google Glass is said to sport a larger prism display, an Intel Atom processor (first model's CPU was made by Texas Instruments) that will be faster than existing Android Wear smartwatches, and better battery life.
The report also claims Google is experimenting with an external battery pack that connects to the new Google Glass to extend battery life.
Furthermore, Google has apparently addressed the heat issues the Explorer Edition suffered from, and the new model runs cooler.
Other than that, the only other spec the report cites is super-fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi with dual-band support for 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless channels. Supporting 5GHz should allow for faster video streaming.
Glass users have complained of eye strain related to constantly looking up and to the right at the prism display. A larger viewing prism would make the display more visible in the peripheral vision and could possibly reduce eye strain.
Targeting Google Glass at enterprise customers instead of consumers would be a complete shift in strategy for Google, but it would be a smart one. Given that the most successful Glass apps are designed for medical, law enforcement and business applications, it may end up better-served as a product built for more specialized use cases instead of, say, playing virtual tennis.
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