By Robert Schoon (r.schoon@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Sep 04, 2013 11:29 AM EDT

A Google Glass release date in 2014 is looking pretty certain, now that the smartglass's rumored app store, "Boutique," has been confirmed to debut in 2014, according to details in a lengthy New York Times feature on the Mountain View giant's new wearable computing devices.

The article is a first-person account by Glass user Clive Thompson, which is a great read, but the article also tips off Google's plans to introduce an app store exclusively for Glass next year. And you wouldn't have an app store without a device to run the apps.

This isn't the first time we've heard of a Google Glass app store. In early July, a regular, monthly update for Google Glass Explorer Edition, called "XE7" contained a word, hidden in the code in the .APK file listing (Android application installation files), that acknowledged the existence of a Glass-geared app store: "Boutique." Whether the Glass app store will be called the "Boutique" in the future is still up for debate.

As far as a specific release date in 2014 for the Google Glass "Boutique" app store or the device itself, there's no specific information at the moment. Recently, in early August, a Taiwanese technology industry researcher put his name behind a figure that he thought would be Google Glass's likely price: $300 U.S., which is a fifth of the cost of the current Google Glass Explorer editions.

However, on Twitter a few weeks ago, Google Glass insider Chris Dale said on Twitter that rumors of a Best Buy release date in 2014 and the $300 price tag were just false.

So we're left, for the moment, not knowing the specific release date window or price for the consumer edition of Google Glass. But we do know that a consumer edition is coming next year, because it would be absurd to launch an app store for the devices if only a select few - those enviable Explorers - could use it.