There should be little reason left to doubt Google’s intentions to finally bring Glass forth as a regular consumer product. On Monday, a post on the Glass Google+ page announced a partnership with the massive Luxottica Group (owner of Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Alain Mikli, and Arnetteto, among other brands) to add some big-time style, design, and distribution chops to Glass.
“Luxottica understands how to build, distribute, and sell great products that their clients and consumers love — something we care deeply about at Glass, too,” the post said. “They’ll bring design and manufacturing expertise to the mix, and, together, we’ll bring even more Glass style choices to our Explorers. In addition, Luxottica’s retail and wholesale distribution channels will serve us well when we make Glass available to more people down the road.”
Google says not to expect Glass on your favorite Oakleys right away, but that the announcement “marks the start of a new chapter in Glass’s design.”
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We still have no idea when a consumer version might offer Glass to a normal person rather than an early adopter with $1,500 to blow on a beta product, but this announcement comes right on the heels of Google’s very public attempt to dispel a number of conceptions about Glass that it referred to as ” myths.”
It seems the hard sell could be ramping up soon, or failing that, perhaps Google is doubling down on its propaganda campaign to convince the world that Glass is much more than just nerd goggles; it’s the biggest high-fashion Bluetooth peripheral since, uh, well…since the last time Google showed us what Glass could look like on different frames (see the photo at the top of this post).