Hearst Corporation today introduced the ELLE Glassware created
exclusively for Google Glass at Google I/O 2013. Hearst is the first magazine
media company to develop and launch Glassware, with ELLE as the first Hearst
brand included in the device's initial gallery of services. The Glassware is
now available to early users as part of the device's Explorer launch. The teams from Hearst Corporation, ELLE and Google worked
together on this launch of the world's top fashion magazine as Glassware. The
partnership is a result of Hearst's ongoing research and development efforts,
many of which are focused on building new mobile experiences. The launch of the
ELLE Glassware is seen as an example of how Hearst plans to deliver content
across its diverse properties -- whether fresh, lifestyle perspectives from
magazine brands, breaking news from Hearst newspapers and TV stations or
essential business information from Hearst Business Media's financial,
healthcare and automotive companies -- in new ways on both emerging and
existing mobile devices.
Why Hearst Wants in on Google Glass
Google Glass has
already gotten a reputation as a geek-guy thing, but Hearst doesn’t think
that’s going to be the case in the long run. The publisher is the first magazine to have a Google Glass
app. Elle will join The New York Times, CNN and Mashable as the first
publishers to build for the wearable computer. The gamble is that Google Glass
will become a mainstream product, or at the very least, Hearst will learn
important lessons about the future direction of mobile content consumption. “It’s early and it’s experimentation, but it’s in line with
the overall approach to what Hearst is taking in mobile,” said Phil Wiser,
Hearst’s CTO. “To understand where tech and product and consumers are going,
you have to learn by doing, not researching. That’s where we are right now.”
Google Glass: No, You Can’t Read A Book On It
No, it's not “Augmented Reality” (at least most of the time)
and no it doesn’t record video of everything you see, nor can it be used to
play games or run apps. But it—that would be Google Glass, Google’s much
anticipated wearable computing headset—is still pretty cool. Along with a
number of media and digital publishing vendors, PW was invited to participate
in a hands-on demonstration of the new device organized by Layar, an augmented
reality firm whose technology can be used to embed interactive services into
print publications. Google Glass can take a photo or video, it can do a
Google search, it can send and receive messages (text or e-mail, though for
best results it should be connected to your cellphone like a blue-tooth though
it can work by itself), it can call up maps and give directions (it shows a GPS
map and talks to you) and it can be used with Google services like Google
Hangouts, which allows the user, for instance, to do live video chats. As most know, it’s a wearable device that fits on your head
like eyeware—which it is not. And while it accommodates eyeware—sort of, if you
don’t mind looking a little cock-eyed—the current model works best if the user
is not wearing glasses. Everything starts in a little screen situated just
above your right eye, offering a small and odd but fairly easy-to-decipher home
screen that sits suspended just out of the way of your general view. The device
can be turned on by tilting your head upwards; it responds to voice commands (saying
“OK Glass” will engage the device and show a menu of options) and a touchpad
mounted on the side allows the user to scroll through photos, see the time and
date, weather and a history of stuff you’ve already done on Google Glass. It
also talks to the user (to give directions for instance) via a tiny speaker set
near your ear.
