Play Store Update Hints at Future Google Glass Integration

While the widespread adoption of Google Glass—the search-giant’s wearable computing accessory for those with questionable fashion senses—is still up in the air, Google seems to be positioning its app-selling marketplace, the Play Store, to accommodate programs for Glass when it hits the market sometime in 2014.

The Verge today points to a screengrab posted on Google+ by Germany-based Zynga employee Nicolas Gramlich. In the screenshot, we can see that Google Glass is listed as a possible compatible device in the recently updated Play Store. So what does that actually mean in practical terms? In short, it’s possible that Google Glass may end up being able to run Android APK files, also known as the apps that Android users download and run on their smartphones and tablets every day.

As to whether or not that is a probable outcome, that remains to be seen. Since Google Glass’s display is so teeny, it’s not super likely that Rovio will bother to make sure that Angry Birds Star Wars will run well on your face-computer. On the other hand, Rovio loves making lots of money with Angry Birds, so you never know.

The real practical takeaway from this news is that it seems as though Google is making sure that users have as streamlined an experience with its products as possible. Glass is a different kind of animal than Android-powered smart-devices, but that doesn’t mean you should have to hunt through a totally different marketplace for programs you can use on the thing. By putting all of its Google-approved programs in one Play Store, Google is making sure that its customers won’t get annoyed by having to go to more than one place for their software needs. It’s a small move, but a smart one, and it goes to show why Google is among the world’s most important and successful companies.

In the end, though, I wonder how well Google Glass will do when it’s finally released to the public sometime in 2014. The beta test version cost a whopping $1,500, and as of now there’s no real idea as to how much it’ll cost when it hits the market. Will this experiment with wearable computers be the start of a revolution? Or just another failed tech fad we’ll joke about years from now?