New hardware from Google monopolizes this week’s ExtraBITS, with an eyes-on report on Google Glass and an overview of Google’s new high-end Chromebook Pixel.
Joshua Topolsky Tries on Google Glass -- Apple’s iWatch is nothing more than a rumor at this point, but Google Glass, Google’s smartglasses that can take pictures, record video, show you incoming text messages, give you directions, and much more, are real. Glass isn’t quite yet available, but Joshua Topolsky of The Verge got a chance to try out the current beta. His money quote? “But what’s it actually like to have Glass on? To use it when you’re walking around? Well, it’s kind of awesome.”
CNET Looks at Google’s New Chromebook Pixel Laptop -- Over at CNET, Stephen Shankland looks at Google’s just-released Chromebook Pixel, a high-end laptop running the company’s Web-focused Chrome OS. Whereas previous Chromebooks have been sold at the low end of the laptop price spectrum, the Chromebook Pixel costs $1,299 (Wi-Fi) or $1,499 (Wi-Fi plus LTE, for more-widespread connectivity) and boasts a 12.85-inch, 2560-by-1700-pixel touch screen that’s visually comparable to the screen of Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. It’s driven by a dual-core 1.8 GHz Intel Core i5 processor, and features a 32 GB SSD, 4 GB of RAM, two USB ports, a headphone-microphone jack, SD card slot, and Mini DisplayPort for connecting to an external display.
