Android KitKat 4.4 Google Glass XE16 Update Now Official

Good news for all Explorers out there as Google has officially announced its latest update for Google Glass namely XE16. Later this week all Glass users will be able to update their devices to the latest firmware – Android 4.4.

With this update users will be able to manage their photos more quickly with the use of Photo Bundles, feature that organizes photos by the day they were captured, users can now  scroll up or down making swiping less needed .

A new dedicated feedback Glass card was also created for better support. The card will be found in Settings under the Device Info card.

Although a subtle change and something you may not notice in a heartbeat is the new Kitkat 4.4.  What you will see is an improved battery life, something most Explorers were complaining about. We’ll just have to wait and see how the battery life will improve. In the meantime you can give these tips on how to extend Glass battery life a try. The device is expected to become more reliable, easier to update. Good news for developers also as the new XE16 update makes it possible to create using the latest SDK and new GDK features.

New ways to share photos captured with Glass are also available. Users can now reply with photos in Hangouts. The next time you will be asked ‘what’s up’ you can now reply directly with a photo.

Improved voice commands sorting. As more dedicated Glass apps emerge and longer voice commands are used to control them, this feature was something most users were expecting. After the XE 16 update you will be presented with your recent and most frequent voice commands every time you say or tap “ok glass”.

No more video calls. Google has decided to pull this feature from Google Glass. The reason behind this measure was the negative feedback it got from Explorers regarding the quality. In addition Google stated on its official that less than 10% of current Explores still use video calls. Although not something that can not be replaced using a third-party app, some users that relied on this feature like teaching physicians will suffer.