Foldable, water-resistant Google Glass in the works

The “Entreprise Edition” of Google Glass 2.0 will be water-resistant with a more rugged design, 9to5Google.com reported on Wednesday. 9to5Google reports that Google is readying an incremental version of the Glass specifically engineered for the workplace. Visually it hasn’t got a facelift but the company has tweaked its visual aesthetic so that it could suit a factory, hospital or a runway.

The EE is likely to be based on the Explorer Edition (XE) of the Glass.

According to the report, the glasses will be foldable in a way that won’t make it any different from the normal spectacles.

The first Google Glass was marketed as a tech-savvy fashion item – a tactic that largely fell flat on its face given the abject ugliness of the sinewy brow-hugger. It further includes a larger prism, an Intel Atom processor, and improved battery life.

While the new Google Glass isn’t getting a major design overhaul, several crucial changes are being made to tip the scales towards practicality.

Google is now planning, according to 9to5Mac, to distribute the Google Glass Enterprise Edition exclusively among the company’s certified Glass for Work partners – meaning no retail availability.

A new Wi-Fi chip with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands will improve Glass’s video streaming performance, a key feature for use in the workplace – e.g. surgeons streaming live video of operations to colleagues. Google is not only making the Enterprise edition socially acceptable but also make it robust to go through the daily wear and tear.