Google is preparing a hardware update to Glass, which will be available to current owners of the high-tech eyepiece through a one-time "swap out". Not much is known about what this hardware revision will bring, other than it will work with "future lines of shades and prescription frames", allowing people who wear glasses to use Google Glass for the first time.
The new version of Glass will also ditch the bone conduction speaker for a proper earbud, although it will be mono only, making the device a less-than-ideal music player. Hopefully some other aspects of the device, such as its 5-megapixel camera, battery life and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g connectivity, will see upgrades as well.
Along with the new Glass hardware, Google is looking to expand the Glass Explorers program, giving current participants three invites to hand out to friends who would make the "best potential Explorers". Like with the first wave of Explorers, any new participants must be US residents and willing to spend $1,500 on the eyepiece.
Google are still aiming to release a consumer version of Glass sometime in 2014, with prices set to be well under the current asking price for Explorers. The actual hardware inside the first-generation Glass headset is said to only cost between $150 and $200, making a retail price of $300-500 reasonably likely.
Until the company is ready to embark on a retail launch, Google will continue to gather usage data through the Explorer program. If you happen to know someone in the program and want your own Glass, now's the time to persuade them into giving you an invite.