Google seems to have filed a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) patent application for Google Glass Version 2, although the California-based tech giant has made no official announcement about the wearable device. The "GG1" patent filing is for a new gadget that supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, is powered by rechargeable batteries, and includes a USB cable for data transfers to desktop or laptop computers.
The FCC filing states that the mystery product supports Wi-Fi up to 802.11ac. It also is compatible with Bluetooth LE.
GG1 is powered by rechargeable batteries that the owner cannot replace. The tech gadget is also bundled with a charger.
It is possible that the name "GG1" is a red herring. However, all the evidence in the patent filing seems to indicate that Google Glass 2 is definitely in the works.
Google will use a FCCC label that will not be a traditional physical level. Instead, the wearable device will contain an e-label that is hidden somewhere in GG1's settings menu, requiring the gadget's user to scroll right or left to access it.
Droid Life notes that the e-label looks like a Google Glass screenshot. This seems to imply that the user would have to use some type of touch gesture that V2 would recognize, in order to access the label.
U.S. manufacturers of electronic devices are required by law to submit products to the FCC for a safety review, before they are sold in stores, nearly making it impossible to keep the public in the dark about new gadgets, according to Mashable. A vague description helps little.
Google could be planning to move beyond in-house prototyping. The next step would be the search engine king to conduct public testing of Google Glass 2.0.
GG1 external and internal photos will be unavailable until December of this year, according to PC Mag. Glass 2 could be unveiled at any point before then.
The original Google Glass device was released to United States app developers in February 2013. About two years later the company announced that it would stop making prototypes of the wearable gear.