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Google Portables Technology

Google Glass Teardown 97

saccade.com writes "Ever wonder how Google packed all of the Google Glass functionality into a slender eyeglass frame? Find out by checking out this teardown by Scott Torborg and Star Simpson. Goodies found inside include proximity, light and inertial sensors, sound transducers, a TI OMAP CPU, flash, RAM, camera and tiny projection display."
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Google Glass Teardown

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  • by sjwt ( 161428 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @01:19AM (#43982245)

    What, no government mind control device? I am shocked!

    • Mind control - obviously that is what the proximity sensor is for - it senses your brain activity and the projector closes the loop through the optical nerve...
    • What, no government mind control device? I am shocked!

      Google are planning to release a special version of Glass for people such as you. It is called Google Glass: Tin Foil Hat version :-)

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Well, there was this one chip they couldn't identify with the id PRISM666 etched into it.

      • by Anonymous Coward

        The only chip I could identify was the one on his shoulder

    • There was!
      On the right hand sight there is a magic coin that is used for mind control. It must be used for mind control!
      Cause I dont believe it is there for scale, people generally have an idea how big glasses are...
    • by KGIII ( 973947 )

      What makes you assume that it isn't embedded in one of the other parts? Just because it says one thing on the box doesn't mean that that is all that it does. ;)

    • What, no government mind control device?

      According to their legal dept. it's strictly a Google mind control device with no direct government access.

  • by OhANameWhatName ( 2688401 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @01:36AM (#43982319)

    Ever wonder how Google packed all of the Google Glass functionality into a slender eyeglass frame?

    They're evil.

    • by Jah-Wren Ryel ( 80510 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @01:55AM (#43982387)

      They got help from the NSA's spy-gadget development labs.

      • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
        With Government Glass you too can help fight terror as you consume.
        Download our new app today and get reassuring feedback that the person you have just walked past was detected by our network.
        People using complex glasses, makeup, hair styles or clothing to avoid our software will result in a beep.
        Find a police officer or private security official via the domestic counterterrorism tab, show your coeducational affiliate badge and play back your footage.
        If in a mall for example the person can be questioned
        • by KGIII ( 973947 ) <uninvolved@outlook.com> on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @05:14AM (#43983113) Journal

          I could see people actually installing that app.

          I could see people fighting to install that app if there were something like a $5 Dunkin Donuts gift certificate for every month (five hours per day) of use.

          I could see people killing to get into the beta program if it meant you got a shot at appearing on random_popular_reality_show if you found x_amount of wanted people over a year long process.

          I just want you to know that I am NOT kidding nor am I amused by this. I just see it as a plausible result if said application were made available. Given the results of the various polls that concern privacy, I'd not be in the least bit surprised. Those of us who see the problem want so very much to blame the government, and rightly so - they should know better, but so much of the blame rightly belongs with you and me (the populace).

          • I could see people actually installing that app.

            So could I. With the way people come to rely on technology instead of thinking, I could also see somebody with that app failing to notice the guy sitting next to them with a bomb in one hand, an AK-47 in the other, and a headband that read "Death to the Great Satan" (or whatever the terrorist slogan du jour is).

            That's also a "more truth is said in jest" thought. With all the government electronic sniffing up everybody's butt the 4th Amendment doesn't apply to terrorism crap, let's not forget some recent l

            • It will be used. And don't laugh about the 'Death of the Great satan'. here it will be 'Death to the mark of the beast; whose the beast? Who ever is responsible for implementing the next banking system to help us be more convenient.

          • “Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.” Turns out Orwell was wrong. There was no one single Big brother. We are Big Brother. And we are only just now discovering this: “Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understan

        • Where's the +1 Scary mod option?
    • Scott Torborg and Star Simpson

      how trekkie

    • Actually there could be a large market from people who recognize faces as familiar--but can't remember the name and other associated information.

  • What's the purpose of the coin?
  • by Anonymous Coward

    After the PRISM leaks I can't imagine wearing something like this. I hope Google Glass gets banned in all public spaces and commercial spaces. Your company is competing against Booz Allen Hamilton or it's corporate parent The Caryle Group, would you be comfortable knowing employees of those companies are apparently using the NSA as their personal search engine? I wouldn't.

    • by dido ( 9125 )

      I suppose if you have full root access with a known trusted open source firmware it would not be so nefarious. At least then you could be reasonably sure it doesn't phone home to Google, the NSA, or anyone.

    • I know you're mostly just trolling, but smartphones and pencams have the same risks to public privacy as Google Glass, in terms of being a small portable camera with a radio-based internet connection. (They're actually more risky, because they have better battery life.) What Glass does is give you a display and somewhere to head-mount the camera instead of having to clip it onto your pocket or whatever, plus make it much more obvious that you're using it.

  • by wbr1 ( 2538558 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @02:24AM (#43982489)
    ....if they had recorded the teardown of Google glass, with another Google glass.
  • No, no I haven't... because I've seen the insides of a cellphone and tablet. I'm surprised it's not smaller!

    [*] 90% of a cellphone is it's battery; even more for a tablet. If there were no need for a screen or keypad, the whole thing would be the size of a sugar packet.

    • I'm surprised it's not smaller!

      Yeah, me too - but that's really encouraging. Look at that Synaptics board - it's freaking huge for what it needs to be. It could be instantly half the height, as-is, but it's made to be the same height as the Sandisk flash chip.

      That this thing looks like a prototype is great, though. The 'real' versions should be able to easily fit inside 50's nerd / 00's hipster-thickness black plastic frames, which many people find to be actually comfortable to wear.

  • Just imagine one of these beauties with Cyanogen! I want one of those for sure!
  • by SpaghettiPattern ( 609814 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @03:01AM (#43982649)
    Fascinating how they cram so much in so little space. I say miniaturize even further so that the device would blend in inconspicuously with my shiny polished toecap.

    (To those with a limited sense of humor: This is a joke. Admittedly a very mediocre one at best.)
  • by Jah-Wren Ryel ( 80510 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @03:09AM (#43982683)

    Bet she won't be wearing those into an airport [boston.com] anytime soon!

  • I was quite pleased to see that the tech and the frame are held together by just a torx screw, and you can screw it onto ordinary glasses. It doesn't work very well that way, but at least it means that spectacle users are a small step away from being supported.

    Ha ha, who am I kidding, I'm never going to own one of those.

  • They found a dime inside when they tore it down?

  • Camera (Score:2, Interesting)

    by markdavis ( 642305 )

    >"Goodies found inside include proximity, light and inertial sensors, sound transducers, a TI OMAP CPU, flash, RAM, camera and tiny projection display."

    You forgot the camera- the part that makes it such a rude and privacy killing and controversial device. If it really were missing, it would probably fare much better...

    • "Goodies found inside include proximity, light and inertial sensors, sound transducers, a TI OMAP CPU, flash, RAM, camera and tiny projection display."

      • >"Goodies found inside include proximity, light and inertial sensors, sound transducers, a TI OMAP CPU, flash, RAM, camera and tiny projection display."

        OK, I obviously need to take reading comprehension class :) Sorry about that. Damn I wish there were a "delete" function...

  • They need to make a transparent case version and get Jeri Ryan to model it.
  • Ever wonder how Google packed all of the Google Glass functionality into a slender eyeglass frame?

    I honestly don't know what all that functionality is. what exactly it's good at has so far been a lot of hype and conjecture. AFIK it's really just a secondary display for your cellphone.

  • That huge CPU coupled with the memory and flash disk has to consume arround 200mw, no way it can last more than 1 hour on that tiny battery.
    IMHO cramming a 500 MB Linux distro into something that is basically a proxy for google services is a complete waste of resources.

Think of it! With VLSI we can pack 100 ENIACs in 1 sq. cm.!

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