The next Google Glass is ‘Enterprise Edition,’ expanded testing later this year
We told you yesterday about a new device that passed through the FCC—codenamed GG1—and many have speculated that it's the next generation of the Google Glass hardware. While it's often suggested that the device …
Context & Ripple Effects
After the GG1 device surfaced at the FCC, speculation that it was next-generation Glass hardware is now resolved: 9to5Google reports the follow-up is an 'Enterprise Edition' aimed at workplace testing, with expanded pilots later this year. The related coverage fills out what that device looks like — an Intel Atom CPU, larger prism, and optional external battery pack, plus a foldable, more water-resistant build ruggedized for industrial use.
First-order effects
- Workplace testers get hardware built for their conditions — foldable, water-resistant, battery-extended — rather than the fragile consumer design, while per the Journal's reporting on quiet business distribution, the consumer version slips at least a year away.
Second-order effects
- Specifying an Intel Atom CPU makes Intel a component supplier to a Google wearable program, and the attach-to-existing-glasses form factor shifts the competitive question from standalone fashion to integration with prescription and safety eyewear.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds through the later formal launch of Glass Enterprise Edition with prescription-lens support and improved security, wearables settle into a two-track structure: ruggedized, security-reviewed devices for enterprise deployments first, consumer products only once those prove out.
The trend: Smart glasses are pivoting from consumer novelty to enterprise-first deployment, with workplace durability and security requirements setting the hardware roadmap.