Maker of Ray-Ban joins Google to make wearables stylish
Wearables just got a major upgrade in style, as an Italian eyewear company announced its partnership with Google on Monday.
Luxottica Group, the makers of Ray-Ban and Oakley frames, will reportedly sell frames for the search giant's Internet-connected eyewear. This new alliance follows Google's announcement that fashion accessory maker Fossil Group is working on an Internet-connected wristwatch that runs Google's Android software for mobile devices.
Google Glass is a wearable device that includes a thumbnail-sized screen above the wearer's right eye to view Internet content, as well as a camera that can take hands-free pictures and video -- a feature that has sparked backlash against Google Glass wearers.
A woman in San Francisco reportedly got into a physical confrontation with patrons at a local bar last month, reported CBS affiliate KPIX. A Glass user from Ohio was pulled from a movie theater in January, when federal agents suspected that he was recording the movie. Last year, another California woman was issued a ticket for wearing the device while driving.
Google has tried to stop the backlash against early adopters of the Glass technology. Last week, the Internet company tried to counter some of the most common concerns with a Google+ post titled "The Top 10 Google Glass Myths." The company has also published a list of do's and don'ts, going so far as to refer to users that don't follow these guidelines as a "Glasshole."
Google has only sold the $1,500 wearable computer to a select group of test subjects known as "Explorers," totaling almost 10,000 people.
The partnership with Luxottica is expected to help broaden Glass' appeal. Google is also planning to tap into the more than 5,000 stores that Luxottica runs in the U.S. to help sell Glass once the device is released on the general market, which the Mountain View, Calif., company is still aiming for later this year.
In another move to make Glass more practical, Google in January unveiled four frame styles that could also be outfitted with prescription lenses. Those frames cost an additional $225.
The prices for Luxottica's line-up of Google Glass products won't be announced until they are closer to going on sale. Besides Ray-Ban and Oakley, Luxottica's other brands include Vogue-Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Alain Mikli and Arnette.