Google Glass just got a little more user-friendly, or at least friendly to its users' wallets. In the most recent software update, Google has eliminated the need for an additional data-tethering plan, by allowing Google Glass to stream data directly from its companion Android app.
We previously reported that Google added an Android app called MyGlass, which allows for screencasting anything your Google Glass display shows to an Android phone - as well as letting you "remote control" the smartglass features from the phone app.
Well, it turns out, according to Engadget, that deep in the gully works of the new XE9 Glass update, there's new code that lets the same MyGlass app enable data transfer between your phone and Glass, in a way that bypasses expensive add-on data plans. Before the update, Glass Explorers on some carriers had to pay additional monthly fees for data tethering.
Of course, if you can afford to pay $1,500 for a pair of experimental smartglasses, you probably don't care if the gadget costs you a little more in monthly phone bills. But for the new, consumer version of Glass (with probable release date in 2014), making it possible to get data directly from your smartphone without extra fees is definitely a consumer-friendly move to make.
Google Glass is the (currently) experimental wearable computing device that tethers to your smartphone through Bluetooth, or through as shared Wi-Fi connection. It hit the streets in a small-batch, experimental version called "Glass Explorer Edition" earlier this year, and is expected to be ready for a larger consumer audience sometime in 2014. Various industry analysts have tried to price the device, which will need to cost less than $1,500 to reach a large audience, but the $300 price tag that was widely quoted earlier in the summer is almost definitely not accurate.
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