Communications of the ACM
Google Emulates Apple in Restricting Apps For Glass
In Google's new guidelines for software developers who want to create apps for Google Glass, the company is restricting Glass apps in order to gradually introduce the technology to the public.
Credit: The Tech Block
Google has issued guidelines for software developers who want to create apps for Glass, its Internet-linked glasses. It is taking a page from Apple by restricting Glass apps in an effort to gradually introduce the technology to the public in order to address privacy and other concerns.
Developers are barred from selling ads in apps, collecting user data for ads, sharing data with ad firms, distributing apps elsewhere, and charging people to purchase apps or virtual goods or services within them.
Some developers say Google's caution is sensible, given that Glass is always in a user's field of vision. Glass users can operate the device by vocal commands, finger movements, or head movements.
Glass could trigger mainstream consumer interest in wearable computing, although Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps says "the variable is whether consumers will want it or not."
Developers' access to Glass also will be limited, as apps will be cloud-based rather than residing on the device. "My hope is they make [Glass] as open as possible so that we can really test the limits of what this type of device would look like," says software developer Frank Carey.
From The New York Times
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