Look out Apple Watch, Google Glass is coming soon

The next generation Google Glass – the wearable voice-controlled Android-powered eyewear – is in the works, after its first incarnation was withdrawn from sale in January. The launch was confirmed by Luxottica CEO, Massimo Vian.

In March last year, Luxottica and Google announced their partnership to design and develop a new breed of eyewear for Glass. Massimo Vian recently visited California to meet the Glass' team, but he did not provide further details about the specific time frame about the launch of the wearable device.

He did tell shareholders however that: "In Google, there are some second thoughts on how to interpret version 3 [of the eyewear]. What you saw was version 1. We're now working on version 2, which is in preparation."

Prototype pulled

In January, Google Glass chief Ivy Ross, revealed that a new version of the eyewear device would be cheaper and have longer battery life, improved sound quality and a better display. She also added that Google is working on pairing the device with a wide range of familiar types of eyewear.

In January Google stopped the sales of the first version of the Glass eyewear, which was released in 2013 to users who applied to test the internet-connected device. Glass was released officially to the public in the middle of 2014. But Google ended the Explorer programme in January 2015.

Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt later dismissed the rumours about the company cancelling the entire project and said: "It is a big and very fundamental platform for Google. We ended the Explorer programme 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."