Top Android apps of 2012

2012 has been a good year for Android. The Galaxy S III has been a sales behemoth, the Nexus 7 proved that Android tablets can sell too, and there have been plenty of great new apps. As 2012 comes to a close, let's take a look at the year's top Android apps and games.

Google Chrome

Google's heralded desktop browser made its mobile debut this year. It lives up to the hype. Speedy and simple, the free Chrome is miles ahead of the old stock Android browser.

Play Store: Chrome (free)

Google Drive

More than just a Dropbox rival, Google Drive is a cloud locker and basic word processor rolled into one. Store up to 5 GB of files for free, and edit your docs on the go. If you're invested in the Android ecosystem, Drive is essential.

Play Store: Drive (free)

Google Now

We're cheating a bit here, as Google Now isn't available as a standalone app. But any device running Android 4.1 or higher gets the next generation of Google search, known as Google Now.

In many ways, Google Now surpasses iOS' Siri. It skips the spunky personality, and simply delivers relevant information ... even before you ask for it. At the subway station? Now will show you what trains are coming. Merging onto the highway? Now gives you traffic. Voice searches are also returned much quicker than Siri.

If you're comfortable with much of your life being uploaded to Google's servers (chances are, it is anyway), Now can be a personal assistant that actually helps.

Play Store: N/A

1Weather

OneLouder Apps released the most beautiful weather app for Android this year, called 1Weather. It gives you all the weather info you'd need with an attractive design that we'd like to see more of on Android.

If you want to fully appreciate the gorgeous app, you can pay an extra US$1.99 for the Pro version.

Play Store: 1Weather (free)

Instagram

The former iOS-exclusive Instagram made its way to Android this year. The Facebook-owned app lets you snap pics with a variety of filters, and quickly upload them to your favorite social networks.

Play Store: Instagram (free)

OnLive Desktop

OnLive Desktop gives your Android tablet a touch-friendly, cloud version of Microsoft Windows. The only catch is that you'll need a persistent internet connection.

The free OnLive Desktop account offers basic Windows access, including Office and Adobe Reader. The premium Desktop Plus adds Internet Explorer (including Flash) at Gigabit speeds for US$4.99 per month.

Play Store: OnLive Desktop (free)

Solid Explorer Beta

Who knew file navigation had room for improvement? With multi-panel viewing, drag-and-drop, and support for rooted devices, Solid Explorer ups the ante for Android file management.

Play Store: Solid Explorer Beta (free)

Flipboard

A slew of formerly iOS-exclusive reading apps hit the Play Store this year. At the front of that pack is Flipboard.

Flipboard presents news in an attractive and responsive magazine-style layout. You can link to your Google Reader account or browse the plethora of curated Flipboard channels.

Play Store: Flipboard (free)

Instapaper, Pocket, Readability

Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability let you store news articles to read later. They're more than bookmark services, though, as they present articles in clean, text-and-image only views.

All three offer nearly identical feature sets, so you may want to experiment to find your favorite. No tablet is complete without one of them.

Play Store: Instapaper ($2.99), Pocket (free), Readability (free)

TabletSMS

If you're lounging on the couch with your Nexus 7, you probably don't want to grab your phone every time you send a text message. TabletSMS lets you send and receive texts from your tablet – all using your phone number.

Play Store: TabletSMS (free)

Turntable.fm

Turntable.fm lets you collaborate with friends and strangers on a live setlist. Queue up your favorite jams, and vote others' selections up or down.

Play Store: Turntable.fm (free)

Wave Control

Practice your Jedi powers and control your phone with a wave of the hand. Wave Control lets you play or skip songs without touching your screen. It doesn't always work seamlessly, but it's a great tool nonetheless.

Play Store: Wave Control (free), Wave Control Pro ($2.99)

Firefox

Firefox's Android browser stayed in beta for years, and lagged far behind its competition. That changed this year when Mozilla released Firefox for Android. It emphasizes speed, an overhauled user interface, and customizable add-ons. It even adds an Instapaper-like "Reader mode," that de-clutters articles for simple viewing.

Play Store: Firefox for Android (free)

Magisto - Magical Video Editor

Magisto is the lazy person's video editing app. Add video clips, and Magisto will analyze and compile them into a movie, complete with soundtrack. It even lowers the music volume when people are speaking. It isn't perfect, but it's as artistic as a computer can be right now.

Play Store: Magisto (free)

Swiftkey 3

Swiftkey has been one of Android's best keyboards for years, but 2012 saw the release of Swiftkey 3. It marks a big step forward, with better error correction and "Smart Space," which inserts missing spaces in blocks of text.

Also keep an eye out for the upcoming Swiftkey Flow, a Swype-like trace keyboard with Swiftkey's predictive text.

Play Store: Swiftkey 3 ($1.99), Swiftkey 3 Tablet ($1.99)

Temple Run

The iOS classic Temple Run came to Android in 2012. Snag an idol and run, jump, and slide from the crazy apes in hot pursuit. It's addictive, endless running arcade fun at its finest.

Play Store: Temple Run (free)

Dead Trigger

Android wouldn't be a legit gaming platform if it didn't have at least one good first-person zombie shooter. Dead Trigger gives you just that, for the unbeatable price of free.

Play Store: Dead Trigger (free)

Horn

One of the breakthrough mobile games of 2012, Horn is a Zelda-inspired action puzzler. Its striking visuals and console-like gameplay will keep you entertained for hours.

Play Store: Horn ($6.99)

Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Star Wars

In 2012, Rovio's Angry Birds franchise continued its quest for world domination. The two latest entries, Angry Birds Space and Angry Birds Star Wars, brought some refreshing innovation (and a shameless tie-in) to the formulaic series. Don't knock anti-gravity bird-flinging until you've tried it.

Play Store: Angry Birds Space HD ($.99), Angry Birds Star Wars HD ($2.99)

N.O.V.A. 3

Until Microsoft brings H.A.L.O. to Android (fat chance), Gameloft's copycatN.O.V.A. franchise is as close as you'll get. Despite its cringe-inducing voice acting and lack of originality, N.O.V.A. 3 provides terrific visuals and hours of entertaining gameplay.

Play Store: N.O.V.A. 3 ($6.99)

Courtasy : Gizmag

Study by Cambridge university on chances of terminator like threats in future

A team of scientists, philosophers and engineers will form the new Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. The team will study key developments in technology, assessing “extinction-level” threats to humanity. Key among these is the possibility of the creation of an artificial general intelligence, an event that has the theoretical potential to leave humanity behind forever.

A machine that exceeds human intelligence, with the ability to create its own computer programs and technologies, is referred to as an artificial general intelligence (AGI). It is a notion that was originally espoused in 1965 by mathematician, cryptographer and computer scientist Irving John "Jack" Good, and one that has frequently found a home in science fiction. Described by Huw Price as the moment when “intelligence escapes the constraints of biology," the advent of an AGI would mark the point at which humanity ceases to be the most intelligent entity on the planet, and therefore, would (potentially) no longer be the primary “future-defining” force.

Jaan Tallinn, the co-founder of communications cornerstone Skype, discusses the importance of this, stating that through the understanding and manipulation of technology, humanity has “grabbed the reins from 4 billion years of natural evolution ... [and has] by and large, replaced evolution as the dominant, future-shaping force.” You only have to look at our own impact on the planet to get some idea of what might happen if we were no longer the dominant global force.

Furthermore, the threat from an AGI isn't prerequisite upon the existence of hostility. Price gives the example of the declining gorilla population. The threat of extinction is not borne in human hostility, but exists through our manipulation of the environment in ways that suit us best. This actively, though unintentionally, works to the detriment of their survival. Being the more intelligent force, AGI has the potential to create a similar paradigm between itself and humanity.

Although it's likely that we're still some way off from inventing this super-intelligent machine, recent research has shed some light on just how possible it might be. Last year, MIT carried out an experiment to gauge computers' ability to learn languages. In the test, two computers were asked to carry out two unfamiliar tasks with only the aid of the instruction manual. Armed with just a set of possible actions and no prior understanding of the language of the instructions or the tasks themselves, one of the machines was able to complete its task of installing a piece of software with an 80 percent level of accuracy. The other was able to learn to play the strategy game, Sid Meier's Civilization II, winning an impressive 79 percent of the games it played.

This is just one example of numerous studies concerning artificial intelligence, with universities such as Stanford carrying out related researchprograms. In a world where the power of computing chips doubles every two years and virtually everything is controlled by technology, it's likely we'll see research programs such as these accelerate significantly.

Even with this evidence, the notion of an AGI might still seem a little too science fiction-ish to be taken seriously. The team at CSER believes that this is part of the point, stating, “To the extent – presently poorly understood – that there are significant risks, it's an additional danger if they remain for these sociological reasons outside the scope of 'serious' investigation.”

The researchers won't be focusing solely on preventing a Skynet-esque disaster, but will also look at a number of other cases that pose threats to humanity, including developments in bio- and nanotechnology and the effects of extreme climate change.

They might not be The Avengers, but perhaps the future will feel that little bit safer now that the CSER has got our back.

Google X labs confirms augmented reality glasses project, releases video demo

Google X (Google's futuristic technology development lab) has pulled back the curtain on Project Glass, its program to develop truly useful augmented reality "Google glasses." Project Glass aims to design and refine augmented reality technology to help a user explore and share their world armed with a wealth of relevant information - not at their fingertips, but rather at the end of their nose.

Augmented reality describes a view of the real world that includes superimposed graphics. Instead of interrupting your activities to use a smartphone to search for information - get directions, remain in touch, find out if an item is on sale, translate a tourist's note evaluating a restaurant, and the like - Google's Project Glass intends to provide glasses with real-time heads-up displays and intelligent personal assistant software to enable a seamless user experience.

"We think technology should work for you - to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don't. A group of us from Google[x] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment," says a post signed by the three Google X team leaders, Babak Parviz, Steve Lee, and Sebastian Thrun. Parviz has experience working on contact lenses embedded with electronics, including one designed tomonitor blood sugar levels - although AR contact lenses are probably still a little ways off yet.

In February 2012, the New York Times reported "the glasses [could] go on sale to the public by the end of the year." This seems a little ambitious, with the team needing to overcome a number of technical problems, from cost and adequate battery life to speed, network, software, and graphics performance. However, the video below gives an idea of the direction Google hopes to take the technology in.

Source: Google X

Coming to an e-book near you - LG's flexible e-paper display

Like most display manufacturers, LG has kept a finger in the flexible e-paper pie. Now, however, they have announced that their six-inch XGA resolution Electronic Paper Display (EPD) is now in full production, and should be in devices bound for Europe within the next month.

LG's new plastic EPD, claimed to be the world's first in mass production, takes the form of a plastic substrate that is 0.7 millimeters (0.027 in) thick, about 2/3 the thickness of glass EPD devices. At 14 grams (0.49 oz) in weight, the new display comes in at less than half the weight of glass-based alternatives. However, the flexibility is what causes the plastic EPD to step up as a game changer. The rugged device will bend as much as 40 degrees from the plane of the display, will survive blows from a small urethane hammer and repeated drops from a height of 1.5 meters (4.92 ft).

"With the world's first plastic EPD, LG Display has once again proven its reputation for leadership and innovation with a product we believe will help greatly popularize the E-Book market," said Mr. Sang Duck Yeo, Head of Operations for LG Display's Mobile/OLED division. "Based on our success in mass-producing plastic EPD, we are excited as we look toward applying concepts from this experience to future developments like plastic OLED and flexible displays."

LG says it was able to adapt conventional LCD manufacturing technology to the production of the new product by reducing the process temperature of the LCD process to a level that the polymer structures of the plastic EPD could tolerate. The new display is to be shipped to Chinese ODMs, who hope to supply product to Europe by, according to the March 29 press release, "the beginning of next month."

Source: LG via Engadget

Indian inventor creates children's science toys from trash

Children in the First World have a lot of choice when it comes to scientific toys. In fact, there are whole stores devoted to selling things like robotics kits, ant farms, and simple microscopes. In the developing world, however, such fancy toys are relatively scarce. So, what's an adult to do if they want to get the local children interested in the sciences? Well, in the case of Arvind Gupta, they show the kids how to make scientific toys from trash.

Gupta's story began in the 70s, when he was an engineering student at the Indian Institute of Technology. While he was there, he volunteered to teach the children of the mess staff, who couldn't afford a formal education.

Upon graduation, he went on to work at Tata Motors, where he helped to build trucks. After five years of doing so, however, he decided that it wasn't the career for him. In 1978, he took a one-year leave from his job, and took part in the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Program. "The objective was to make science fun and exciting for village children using simple, low-cost materials available in their environment," he told us. "This experience had a profound impact on me. I thought it was much more satisfying than making trucks."

Gupta proceeded to devote his life to designing toys that demonstrate scientific principles, that children can build for themselves out of cheap or free parts. He's written numerous instructional books on the subject, starting with 1986's Matchstick Models and other Science Experiments, which has been reprinted in 12 languages.

Today, he is part of the four-person team that runs the Children's Science Centre, at India's Pune University. Together, they have designed approximately 800 trash-based educational toys ... so far. Instructions and explanations for all of the toys are available copyright-free through their Toys-from-Trash website, as are all of their books, and over 250 linked YouTube videos.

"Every day over 50,000 children and teachers across the world watch these videos," said Gupta. "Thousands of books are downloaded every day and this fills our hearts with hope and joy. We feel privileged to be able to share our work with at least some children across the world."

Out of all of the toys, there are a few that have proven particularly popular. One of those is Matchstick Mecanno, in which little bits of rubber bicycle valve tube and matchsticks are used to make 2D and 3D shapes. Other favorites include the Simple Electric Motor and the Levitating Pencil, in which ring magnets are used to keep a spinning pencil floating in the air.

One of his young students, a girl named Hamsa Padmanabhan, found the pencil toy particularly fascinating. "She wrote a 12-page scientific paper on it, which won the second Intel International Award of US$2,500. Today a minor planet is named after Hamsa," he told us. "Another girl, Durga Jetty, made the Bottle Turbine which won her 0.6 million Indian Rupees! This is quite a feat."

Needless to say, however, Arvind isn't in it for the money, nor for the chance to become famous. Instead, he simply wishes to nurture a quality that he believes all children possess.

"Every child is born a scientist," he said. "We kill this innate curiosity by rote learning and boring state texts. If we just remove some of the authoritarian structures in schools, children will naturally gravitate to science - simply because science is fun and exciting."

An example of one of the instructional videos can be seen below.

Source: Toys-from-Trash

Robot becomes a leader among fish

A couple of years ago, a team of scientists from the University of Leeds succeeded in getting live stickleback fish to follow a computer-controlled "Robofish" as it was moved through their aquarium. Part of the reason for the experiment was to learn about fish behavior, in hopes that human interference in their migration routes could be minimized. While the Robofish was simply a plaster model, researchers from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University recently conducted a similar experiment, but using an actual tail-flapping robotic fish. Their discoveries could help save wild fish populations in the event of environmental disasters.

The study was conducted by NYU-Poly's Maurizio Porfiri and Stefano Marras. Their biomimetic fish, as it was called, was placed in a tunnel of flowing water, along with a school of golden shiners. At first, the scientists kept its tail absolutely still, and the shiners showed little interest. As its tail began to move, however, the shiners started to fall in behind it.

Through varying the speed of its tail beats, the researchers noted that the tail beats of the following fish were always accordingly somewhat slower, which suggested that they were saving energy by riding in the slipstream of the robot. This falls in line with what has been observed in nature, where leading fish exhibit faster tail beats than the rest of the school.

It is hoped that in the future, descendants of the biomimetic fish could be used in natural settings, to lead groups of wild fish away from polluted areas or structures such as dams. Likewise, devices such as robotic birds could perhaps be used to lead other types of animals to safety.

"These experiments may open up new channels for us to explore the possibilities for robotic interactions with live animals - an area that is largely untapped," said Porfiri. "By looking to nature to guide our design, and creating robots that tap into animals' natural cues, we may be able to influence collective animal behavior to aid environmental conservation and disaster recovery efforts."

A paper on the research was recently published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

Source: Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Quadrotors perform James Bond theme

When we last heard from the University of Pennsylvania's General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab, researchers there had provided video of a swarm of quadrotor robots, which they had programmed to perform somepretty impressive precision flying. Well, now the GRASP quadrotors are back, performing a feat that's certainly much more ... entertaining. In a video that was presented yesterday at the TED2012 conference in California, a group of the little guys are shown performing the James Bond theme on musical instruments.

The quadrotors performed in a room that was equipped with infrared lights and cameras. Reflectors on the struts of each robot reflected the light to the cameras, which allowed the system to determine each quadrotor's exact position within the room. That information was then relayed wirelessly back to the robots, to make them aware of their own location, and those of the other robots.

In order to perform the music, each quadrotor had been assigned a set of waypoints in three-dimensional space, each one of which they had to reach at a precise point in time. While those coordinates had been programmed in by human operators, it was up to each robot to determine how to reach its waypoints on time, without disturbing the other units.

While the video below is certainly fun to watch, the exercise performed in it is aimed at improving the quadrotors' performance in much more practical applications. By learning how to get jobs done while staying out of each others' way, the robots could be better able to perform duties such as surveying disaster sites, establishing wireless communications relays, or even building structures.

Source: University of Pennsylvania via IEEE Spectrum

Have your bottle and eat it too – edible containers could be on the way

Created by the same man who came up with Le Whif (inhalable chocolate) andAeroshot (aerosol caffeine boost), portable containers for food and drinks could soon be available in a novel edible form. The project emerged out of an idea put forth by Dr. David Edwards from Harvard University's Wyss Institute. The plastic-free products would be a useful alternative to take-away containers, lunch boxes, and drink bottles, while reducing the environmental concerns often associated with plastic production and recycling.

The base ingredients of this revolutionary packaging system are called WikiCells, and they consist of a natural food membrane that is held together by electrostatic forces. Forming a biodegradable shell that can be used as a portable container, the membrane is also is safe to consume. Furthermore, the WikiCells membranes are significantly resistant to water, and adjoined shells could conceivably take the form of a bottle or other liquid container over long periods of time.

To date the Harvard research team have created an orange-flavored membrane for storing orange juice, a tomato-flavored gazpacho container and a grape flavored package for wine. While they have yet to construct a bottle with the WikiCells technology, a prototype is hoped to be developed in the near future.

Farther down the road, Edwards envisions a commercially-available WikiCell Machine, that would allow consumers to create edible membranes using foods and drinks of their choice.

Source: Harvard University via The Daily Mail

Adobe unveils Photoshop Touch for the iPad 2

Adobe Photoshop Touch is now available for the iPad 2. Adobe made the image-editing app official at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and the app is already available to be downloaded from Apple's App Store.

The photo editing app contains some of Photoshop's core features, as well as a few unique features designed for creating content and sharing it from a tablet. As you might expect, users can apply effects to photos they have taken, touch up photos, as well as combine several photos into a layered image.

A "Scribble Selection Tool" within the app also allows users to erase objects with a scribbling gesture, exploiting Photoshop's "Refine Edge technology" to identify fiddly areas of images. The app also has both Facebook and Google image search, to help users find images quickly and share images they create with others.

In addition to Photoshop Touch, Adobe expects to release several other touch apps for the iPad in the coming months: Adobe Collage for mood boards, Adobe Debut for presenting and reviewing creative work, Adobe Ideas for sketching, Adobe Kuler for exploring color themes, and Adobe Proto for website and mobile app prototyping.

Adobe Photoshop Touch is available now from the App Store for US$9.99. Adobe has also made available a number of tutorials for the app to help you get started editing on your tablet.

Source: Adobe Photoshop Touch

Nokia 808 PureView packs a 41-megapixel camera

At this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia announced the 808 PureView, a smartphone with an astounding 41-megapixel image sensor. The Nokia 808 will be the first smartphone by Nokia to include its new PureView imaging technology, which combines a high-resolution sensor with Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia-developed algorithms.

Typically you might want a high megapixel camera in order to take photos that can be printed larger - what makes the Nokia 808 PureView special, however, it what it does with those pixels. The 808 uses a new pixel oversampling technology, that captures seven pixels of information and then condenses those into one single pixel. This reportedly results in an exceptionally sharp photo, and the ability to zoom in on any portion of a 5-megapixel picture without losing clarity in the image.

The technology also works on video, so you can shoot a full HD video at 30fps and 4x zoom. Nokia has made some untouched images taken with the camera available online (as a sizable download) so you can get a feel for the quality.

In addition to offering a decent lens and large image sensor, the camera also has a few other notable features. It can capture photos quickly (in less than a second), has a Xenon flash as well as an LED video light for shooting in dark places, and offers integration with services such as GetMe Rated (for having other people rate your photos) and Vimeo, for sharing your videos with the world. Nokia claims the phone can capture audio at CD-like quality, and the handset is also the first smartphone with built-in Dolby Headphone technology, so you can listen to tunes (or your videos) in Dolby Surround sound using any set of stereo headphones.

Besides the camera and sound, the rest of the specs for the handset are actually on the low end of things. The Nokia Belle phone has a 4-inch screen with a 640 x 360 resolution, a 1.3Ghz single-core processor, and 512Mb of RAM. The handset comes with 16GB of storage space, but supports microSD expansion up to 32GB.

The Nokia 808 PureView is expected to roll out in May for around US$605.

Source: Nokia

Samsung shows off latest Galaxy Beam projector phone

Samsung has officially unveiled an updated version of the Galaxy Beam, a smartphone with its own built-in pico projector. The biggest feature of the phone as you might guess is its ability to project pictures, video, and other media onto walls, ceilings or any other flat surface via a 15 lumens projector that Samsung says can display images up to 50-inches wide.

Samsung originally showed off the Galaxy Beam at Mobile World Congress in 2010. At the time, the Android handset was only slated to make an appearance in Singapore. This year's announcement brings an updated version of the handset sporting Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and while release details have yet to be announced, the phone will likely be available in a few additional countries.

The 2010 version of the Beam came running Android v2.1, had a 3.7-inch screen, and a 9 lumens projector. The updated 2012 version shown off at Mobile World Congress 2011 comes running Android v2.3, has a 4-inch screen, and comes rocking a much more powerful 15 lumens projector.

The projector is the stand-out feature of the phone. Beyond that, you're looking at your standard run-of-the-mill Android handset. The phone has a 5-megapixel built-in camera, and has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of internal memory, and a 2000mAh battery.

Samsung has yet to announce pricing or availability for the 2012 Galaxy Beam.

Google invents original search gestures

It looks like Google has plans for changing the way we search using our mobile devices. The search engine giant was recently reported to have invented a new gesture for pulling off searches on future Android devices. Instead of users having to waste time selecting words  the traditional way, it will allow them to simply use “continuous gestures” to get the job done. Well how does it work?

In the example given in the patent, users draw the letter “g” on the screen, and continue drawing the tail around (like an “o”) the word they would like to search for. Once they lift their finger from the display, a search is automatically initiated for the circled word. If users want to use another search i.e. Wikipedia or Yahoo!, they can perform the same gesture, but start with the letter “s” instead of “g”. A context menu will pop up instead, giving users the option to select their search engine of choice.

A pretty cool idea if you ask me, and it’s something that will definitely make searching on mobile devices easier and more efficient. No word on when these gestures will be implemented (or if they will even be used) but it’s definitely something to look forward to.

Google glasses coming to stores this year?

A number of anonymous Google employees are reporting that the company is currently developing Android-powered glasses that can provide a heads-up display to the wearer and connect over wireless data services. The glasses will purportedly work like a wearable version of theGoogle Goggles app, providing real time information on a user's location via GPS and motion sensors. Even more surprising, the same sources are saying these "Google glasses" could be available to the public by the end of this year.

The Google glasses have apparently been in production for quite some time at Google's secretive Project X lab, where the company designs its more outlandish projects, such as robots, space elevators, and the like. Anonymous employees have indicated that this is strictly an experimental program from Google, though it may look into future business applications depending on how successful the product is.

Aside from a few buttons on the side, the glasses are said to resemble a regular pair of eyeglasses with a design similar to the Oakley Thumps(pictured below). The glasses will feature a low-resolution camera on the front for gathering information to relay to a small screen built into one side of the lenses. The screen will not be transparent, but will be located to the side of the frame, so as not to obscure a person's view but still give an augmented reality feel. The camera will also be able to take pictures, and have a built-in flash.

Using either WiFi or a 3G/4G connections, the device will tap into Google's cloud and relay information to the user on their environment, including locations or friends nearby and objects that they look at. The glasses will also work as a smartphone, allowing users to make calls, use certain apps, and connect with friends.

Actually controlling the glasses will be a bit unique, as reading through information on the display will require a user to tilt their head to scroll and click. Sources at Google have noted that this function is actually a lot easier to use than it sounds, and will not be noticeable to others.

Unnamed employees told the New York Times that the new Google glasses are expected to be priced much like a current smartphone (in the US$250 to $600 range) and are aimed for a 2012 release date.

Source: New York Times, 9to5Google