If you're on invite-only tech-testing scheme, take care with Amazon's Alexa-powered answer to Google's Glass

At $179.99 (£140), Amazon's Echo Frames smart glasses aren't cheap. So, if they break, can they be easily fixed? According to the veteran tech torturers at iFixit, the answer is... not really. Breaking into the Alexa-powered eyewear was easier said than done, with components tightly packed into the chassis, and in some cases …

[nautica]

Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

"To buy a pair, you have to request an invitation...";

...AND be a 'glasshole'.

Use of these devices, or anything similar, will never be acceptable, nor accepted by the general public...except, possibly, to that contingent which possesses 'open-carry' or 'concealed-carry' weapons permits.

[Glen 1]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

Folk used to say the same about mobile phones.

[jake]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

The only reason anyone said anything like that about mobile phones was the costs involved ... both the initial purchase price, and the ongoing service charges made them cost prohibitive for normal people.

When I first got issued my portable (mid '80s), the general consensus was "That's cool! I wish I could afford one!"[0]. Nobody, and I mean nobody, worried about personal security/liberty issues[1].

[0] To which I replied "I wish I could afford it, too ... this is a company phone."

[1] We did, however, worry about always being on the corporate leash ... and demanded (and received) compensation for that, just like we had for pagers before. Can any of all y'all say the same about your company demanding you be on-call 24/7?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

I was involved in a car accident around the late 80's. Not serious, but my fault.(Was paying attention to the cars trying to cut into my lane, but alas not the cars in front). Because I was such a gentleman and stayed around and let the other people* use my company mobile to call people it helped diffuse the situation - the husband called me the next day and thanked me for staying around and helping his wife. Least I could do..... still feel bad about it.

*apart from that sales twat - he just left his business card and buggered off.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

I wear glasses every day. And they cost a damn sight more than these and are pretty useful.

@nautica "Glasshole", eh? Here's a Bill Hicks Quote for you:

"Do you go up to crippled people and start dancing too, you fuck? [starts dancing] Hey Mr. Wheelchair, what's your problem? C'mon iron-side, race ya..."

[DavCrav]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

"@nautica "Glasshole", eh? Here's a Bill Hicks Quote for you:"

A Glasshole is someone wearing Google Glass, not any old glasses.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

Not Google Glass, don't have a camera. Think more like an Amazon Echo attached to your head ( glasses frames )

[jake]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

Correct. It doesn't have a camera ... yet. It will. Marketing will demand it.

[jake]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

Actually, most open and concealed carry type folks are pro-privacy and anti- all and sundry recording damn near everything for their corporate lords and masters. The Stasi would have loved something like this bolted to the heads of their informers. I'm sure the NSA is drooling.

How often does Amazon delete interactions with Alexa Echo devices? The default answer is never, they save all of it forever. One has to jump through hoops to get Amazon to get rid of it. Which, of course, virtually no consumer will bother doing.

[EGeee]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

I can see how they could potentially be a great AR tool for all sorts of jobs and hobbies, but given the potential for misuse should only be available to the general public in styles that would put Dame Edna to shame.

[JDX]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

>>except, possibly, to that contingent which possesses 'open-carry' or 'concealed-carry' weapons permits.

Those people are typically right wing conservatives, who are the group most opposed to this sort of tech. You've really made yourself look quite ignorant.

[logicalextreme]

Re: Go right ahead. "...take care..." is an understatement.

I've actually lost count of the time I wish I could save the last x seconds of video from my eyeballs because of something amazing or hilarious happening. It's realistically not a huge amount different from people having GoPros strapped to their dashboard/helmet/arm/chest for whatever reason. If you think you can go outside your house and not be even accidentally caught on camera, you're deluding yourself.

Comfort yourself with the fact that, just like me and everybody else, nobody cares about you unless they can sell you something.

[Anonymous Coward]

The big problem

The last thing I want is Amazon which stores I go into and which products I look at while I'm there.

[jake]

Re: The big problem

And the last thing I want is somebody else's Amazon device picking up my voice and recording it somewhere in Amazon Space for them to triangulate digitally later. I'm not paranoid (but I'm getting there) ... I'm more pragmatic, I know what computers are capable of, and getting better at week to week.

[Sleep deprived]

Much less capable than Google Glass

With no camera and no display, this is basically a wireless earphone and microphone built into an eyeglass frame connected to Alexa running on your smartphone. No recording/snapshot feature and no augmented reality, only the spying remains. You can do the same with any earbuds, and keep your regular glasses.

[jake]

Re: Much less capable than Google Glass

The difference is that in theory your phone isn't constantly recording ... and if it is, chances are it's in your pocket or purse, and the sound is muffled and/or drowned out by whatever is rubbing up against the microphone. These glasses have a constantly on microphone, and they constantly feed that sound to Amazon.

[Bentham]

Re: Much less capable than Google Glass

Right .. until an easy wireless microphone the size of a bean gets .....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Much less capable than Google Glass

"The difference is that in theory your phone isn't constantly recording"

LOL For someone exhibiting paranoid tendencies earlier on in this topic, that seems a tad naive. Even if Android isn't doing that, the Alexa app probably is. And plenty of SIS orgs are surely using such features so "muffled" audio is probably not as good a protection as you think.

[JDX]

Re: Much less capable than Google Glass

It's constantly listening, otherwise "Alexa" voice control activation wouldn't work. However it does not record all audio or maintain an open link to the server 24/7 (this would be trivially easy to detect). It technically could so easily, but it doesn't.

[Sampler]

They look like my Vue glasses

I backed them on kickstarter, they looked fun and were cheap (especially as they came with a prescription, much cheaper than my actual glasses).

However, whether it's my larger than average head, narrow pupillary distance or poor design they're physically painful to wear. I'm not sure if it's the pressure of the things constantly digging in to my head or the bone conducting vibrations whilst listening to music also shaking the lenses ever so slightly but wearing a pair for an hour makes me feel sea sick.

Call quality was terrible too.

So, all in, they sit in there fancy charging case, in a closet somewhere (I think..haven't seen them since the last move)..

Imagine the Amazon's will suffer similarly so not rushing out for an invite..

[hoola]

More IOT Tat

Just like Google Glass there are a solution looking for a problem.

Here is a thought, what about a pair of glasses that consist of a lightweight frame with a pair of lenses and some sort of independent hearing device that sits on, over or in the ears?

Or am I just over-thinking this.

I just fail to understand why people buy this sort of stuff and wonder if it gets used a couple of times and them plonked in a box before being binned.

[JDX]

140 is expensive?

For a cool gadget that hardly seems pricey, given people spend that much on regular glasses, sun-glasses, fitness trackers, etc.

Google Glass was 10X more pricey, IIRC?

[Excellentsword]

Re: 140 is expensive?

Alright Mr Moneybags. Goes up to $249.99 outside of this Day 1 thing. I see your point but personally I wouldn't happily smash something that cost north of a hundred quid.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: 140 is expensive?

I* shell out around €600 per pair of glasses every couple of years. €200 per lens and €200 for the frames. So these Amazon ones are not the most expensive you could get.

If they added TouchFocus™® tech to these they'd be on to a winner.

*Well, company paid mutual healthcare in reality.