The future of
Google Glass, the company’s much-maligned Internet-connected glasses, remains a
mystery since the project was sent back to the drawing board earlier this year.
But a new job listing on the company’s website hints that Google’s Glass
efforts are moving forward and perhaps nearing the stage of volume production. Google’s
Glass team is looking for an Advanced Technology Manufacturing Engineer, FATP.
The FATP, the listing explains, stands for final assembly, test and pack. That
sounds like the kind of role that’s necessary when a company has ambitions and
plans for product that go beyond simple experimentation.
Google halted
consumer sales of the $1,500 gadget in January amid waning interest from
consumers and widespread privacy concerns related to the device’s built-in
video camera. Google executive said at the time that it was time for a strategy
reset. Glass was a no-show at last month’s Google I/O developer conference and
the head of business for Glass is leaving the position, according to a recent report
in Recode. There have been reports that a new version of Google Glass is being
readied in partnership with Italian eyewear maker Luxottica. The Luxottica CEO
said in April that Google Glass 2 is currently “in preparation” and suggested
that Google is pondering a more radical change for version 3.0.
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