Google Glasses on sale by end of 2012?

Google’s HUD, augmented reality glasses are real and arriving sooner than expected. In fact, you could be wearing them by year’s end.

There have been rumors suggesting Google is working on some kind of heads-up display glasses for a few months now. In December the open secret among the Google community was thrust into the public arena, with talk of wearable computer technology, but there was little in the way of details.

Then, earlier this month, 9 to 5 Google discovered several more details, including the fact these new Google Glasses look similar to a pair of Oakley Thumps, that they feature a front-facing camera with flash, that the HUD only covers one eye, and that navigation is controlled by head tilts and rolls. As for what’s powering these beauties, they will be similarly-powered as a generation-old Android handset, with a 1Ghz processor, 256Mb of RAM, and 8Gb of storage.

Now comes word from The New York Times that these Google Glasses (speculative name) will be released before the end of 2012. They will cost somewhere in the region of between “$250 and $600,” which is a pretty wide range. They will be Android-based, have at least a 3G data connection, and feature GPS and motion sensors.

These are being conceived as a wearable smartphone, and users would only wear them as and when necessary. Existing Google products will be front and center, but presented in an augmented reality view. There are some rather obvious privacy implications to the product, as wearers could be filming people without their knowledge or approval.

Thankfully Google isn’t thinking these Glasses will be profitable, at least not for the foreseeable future. Instead the company is seeing it as an experiment that will evolve over time. A little like Apple TV then, which has never been anything more than a pet project over at Cupertino.

All I know is I want a pair. Now. Whatever the cost.