Glass Boutique app store, MP3 player, Lock-screen & more revealed
Google's recent XE7 update for its Glass Explorer Edition already shows signs of an unactivated locking system for the wearable, as well as a “Boutique” app store and media player. The official changes in XE7 include a web browser …
Context & Ripple Effects
Glass had already attracted named services including the New York Times, Evernote, Gmail and Path through its first wave of Glass apps, while a May report identified hidden browsing and other experimental capabilities in the software. XE7 makes web browsing an official part of the Explorer Edition rather than just a discovered feature.
The Boutique store, media player and lock-screen code is unactivated and therefore unconfirmed as a product plan. Even so, its appearance alongside the browser suggests Google is testing the pieces needed to make Glass a more self-contained software platform.
First-order effects
- Glass Explorer users gain an official web browser, expanding access to web content beyond the purpose-built services already available on the device.
- Google faces a clearer distinction between XE7's shipped browser and the unactivated Boutique, media and locking code, which should not be treated as available Glass features.
Second-order effects
- The New York Times, Evernote and other early Glass developers face a broader access model: a browser gives users a fallback for web content that does not require a dedicated Glass app.
- If Google activates a managed Boutique store, it would give Glass developers a defined distribution point rather than relying only on the initial set of Google-selected integrations.
Third-order effects
- A browser plus a potential app storefront points toward wearable platforms competing on both native experiences and access to the open web, not solely on a small curated app catalog.
- The presence of lock-screen code highlights that broader everyday use would require device-level access controls alongside developer distribution, although XE7 does not establish that such controls will ship.
The trend: Glass is moving from a showcase of selected integrations toward the software layers—web access, app distribution and device controls—required of a general-purpose wearable platform.