Google today announced the latest update to its Glass project, adding two new features for those who have shelled out $1,500 for the wearable device. The new additions include SMS for iPhone and Calendar Glassware.
The former means iOS users can now finally receive texts from their friends on Glass, just like their Android counterparts have been able to for months. To take advantage, head to your iPhone’s Bluetooth settings and turn on “Show Notifications” for your paired Glass.
When you receive a new text message, it will appear as a notification on Glass. Unfortunately, Google says you won’t be able to reply from Glass “due to some limitations with iOS.”
The latter is meanwhile a new calendar feature located on the Glassware tab in MyGlass. Once you turn on Calendar Glassware, it will show your agenda to the left of the home screen. Tapping a calendar card from your timeline will let you change the title, time, location, and RSVP, as well as delete the event or dismiss it from your timeline.
Just last week, Google announced a major update to Glass , upgrading the device to Android 4.4 KitKat. Unfortunately, the update also removed a key feature: video calls.
In today’s announcement, the company explained that updates will now be coming more frequently: “Didn’t expect to see us back so soon, did you? Now that we’ve finished upgrading your Glass software to Android KitKat, we plan to bring you faster updates.”
Google used to update Glass on a monthly basis, but at the start of 2014 the frequency took a hit as the company focused on the KitKat release. Even with the faster schedule, however, the company wouldn’t say when it plans to bring back video calls.
See also – How Google Glass can evolve as a tool for journalists and Google letting Glass Explorers invite a friend to join the program
Top Image Credit: Kimihiro Hoshino/Getty Images
Verizon announces the Motorola Droid Turbo, a specced-out smartphone coming October 30
At an event today, Verizon Wireless announced its newest flagship smartphone, the Droid Turbo, which goes on sale in the US on October 30. The device packs premium specs with a 48-hour battery, 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM and a 21MP camera.
The Droid Turbo is also designed to be extremely rugged, using ballistic nylon and a metallized glass fiber for its back materials. Verizon is also offering a screen guarantee that will give customers one free screen replacement during their contract period.
The device includes a 5.2-inch, quad-HD display, while the camera features dual-LED flash and can record 4K video. The Droid Turbo supports Verizon’s “ XLTE ” AWS network, which promises twice the bandwidth of traditional 4G LTE. It also comes with a number of Motorola-specific features, such as Moto Voice, active notifications and Moto Assist.
The 32GB version comes in three colors, metallic black, metallic red and ballistic nylon, and costs $199 on contract. A high-end 64GB ballistic nylon version costs $249. Rounding out the lineup, last year’s Droid Mini model is free with contract and the Droid Maxx will cost $49.
Last year’s Droid Maxx already pushed battery life forward with its 3,500 mAh battery, and the Droid Turbo features an even greater capacity of 3,900 mAh. A quick-charging feature can add eight hours of battery life in 15 minutes.
Verizon is also offering $100 minimum trade-in promotion for the Droid Turbo. The operator is waving upgrade and activation fees. Edge customers who haven’t upgraded since July 1 of this year can get an early upgrade for the Turbo.
➤ Verizon Droid Turbo
Mid-range HTC Desire 620 set to arrive in ‘early 2015’
HTC has today announced that the successor to its value-oriented HTC Desire 610 smartphone, the cunningly named HTC Desire 620, will go on sale in the UK early next year.
Key specs include a 5-inch 720p display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper. Total internal storage is capped at 8GB, but the device will support microSD cards up to 128GB in size. Software-wise, it’s packing Android 4.4 and Sense 6.
While the company information talks about ‘affordability’ in regard to the device, it didn’t say exactly what the price would be when it arrives, which would be more useful.
While HTC’s Desire range was once hard to match, there’s now a wealth of perfectly capable, ‘affordable’ handsets like the Moto G or Honor 6 that it will have to contend with when it comes to market.
The device is due to arrive in Q1 next year, and will be available in white with blue accents, grey with orange accents or matte grey with light grey accents. We’ve asked HTC about availability in other regions and will update when we hear back.