Google has bought a few technology patents from the Taiwanese company Hon Hai Precision, probably known to most of you as Foxconn, taking another step towards releasing a consumer version of Google Glass.
The patent buy, which the Financial Times says "is a rare example of a US technology company buying intellectual property from an Asian manufacturer," is seen as a bid to secure Glass against possible intellectual property disputes, the kind which have plagued the smartphone industry recently. The patents were based on augmented reality projection technology and head-mounted displays, according to a Foxconn statement to the Wall Street Journal. The patents included "Head Mounted Technology" which generate "a virtual image and is superimposed on a real-world view."
This isn't the first acquisition Google has made as it prepares itself for the eventual launch of Google Glasses for the masses. Earlier this summer, in June, the Mountain View giant bought shares in Himax Display, a Heads Up Display manufacturer, which produce chips that run the kind of heads-up display used in Google Glass. Google is looking to won 6.3 percent of the company, with the option to make more investments up to 14.8 percent next year. The purpose of that acquisition wasn't to protect its intellectual property, but rather to begin expanding Himax's manufacturing capacity to generate a lot more chips.
Foxconn, known widely as one of Apple's manufacturers, is also believed to be slated to make Google's Glass in a facility in Santa Clara, California - in order, among other possible reasons, to be able to stamp a "Made in the U.S.A." sticker on the new wearable technology.
The Google Glass device is currently only available in a testing program, called "Explorer Edition," which cost the few people lucky enough to be chosen for the beta program $1,500. A consumer edition is expected sometime in 2014, and will likely cost less, though the $300 figure which has been thrown around recently seems a little hopeful.