Google's Eric Schmidt has revealed that although the company's Google Glass Explorer scheme has come to an end, the development of the smart glasses is a long-term project and the search giant won't simply be scrapping it.
Google stopped selling Google Glass in January, alongside the Explorer programme that allowed first adopters to use the hardware and develop apps for it. At the same time, Google set up a separate division specifically for developing Google Glass, headed by Ivy Ross.
Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal that just because things have shifted internally, it doesn't mean Google is ending its research into the wearable: "We ended the Explorer program and the press conflated this into us cancelling the whole project, which isn't true. Google is about taking risks and there's nothing about adjusting Glass that suggests we're ending it."
He explained that the situation is similar to Google's self-driving car testing, which isn't available publicly yet. He said both of these projects are long-term research initiatives, rather than something that will be launched to consumers quickly
Google is now focussing its Google Glass development on enterprises rather than consumers and future iterations will be targeted at businesses, so early adopters may be waiting a while until they are buying the device from their local electrical retailer.
Google CFO Patrick Pichette has already told sceptics that Google Glass won't join other failed electronic devices in the great technology graveyard in the sky. He told journalists at the fourth-quarter earnings call in January Google will reboot the product to ensure it is the best it can be.
