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The infamous Google Glass has a handful of competitors trying to rise to the standards set by the ever – ingenious tech company. Today we will talk about a Taiwanese version of Google Glass that was showcased at the Computex 2014 event. We are talking about ChipSiP, which is not a stranger to tech journalists.
Last year, the company rolled out a prototype of a wearable device running on Android and looking along the lines of a Google Glass.
This year, the same company came up with a more stylized version of their own smart glass, namely the SiME Glass. Apparently, in comparison to last year’s amateurish version, this year’s SiME Smart Glass looks more refined and comes in 3 colored frames.
On the other hand, you don’t have to be a tech specialists to realize that the Taiwanese version of Google Glass still has a lot of aspects to be worked on, starting with its rudimentary looks and over – weight. The device presents rectangular blocks in the vicinity of the frames’ earpieces and the build – in screen seems to be heavy enough to make the glasses look tilted on the side.
Among other downsides of the SiME, the experts testing the device noticed that it runs on Android, but this makes the navigation on the glasses to be clunky. The users need to master a touchpad mounted to the side of the frames in order to move a cursor around the interface and navigate.
Another downside to the Taiwanese version of Google Glass is that you will still need to use a separate set of headphones for audio purposes, as the SiME Smart Glass didn’t reach that level of technological development to use bone-conducting technology to transmit audio to the user.
The third issue emphasized by the technicians wass the fact that the SiME Smart Glass could hold a very negligible 1 hour of run-time, but the company said they would work on the battery life to improve this feature.
What is good about the Taiwanese version of Google Glass?
Let’s say that it sports some interesting and surprising features one couldn’t have expected from such a device. First and foremost, the SiME Smart Glass boasts an augmented reality application that is poorly present on the Google Glass. Moreover, it has some incredible camera specs:
A 5-megapixel shooter that captures 1080p video sits next to the the SiME’s prism display. ChipSiP executives told us they also plan to make a version of the SiME that can take 120 degree-wide pictures. By comparison, Google Glass’s 5-MP camera can only shoot 720p resolution videos.
Now isn’t this pretty exciting? The manufacturers told journalists they would start delivering a developers’ version around July this year for the formidable price of $1,000, while they envision a mass – consumption product to hit the shelves in about another two years from now. The future publicly available Taiwanese version of Google Glass is said to be priced at only $500, a very compelling price, all things considered.
