A news report making the rounds on the Web today has Google manufacturing its coming Google Glass product right here in Silicon Valley. The UK publication Financial Times reports that Google will make the new product at the Foxconn contract manufacturing facility in Santa Clara.
The Financial Times report was picked up by the Los Angeles Times [link] as well as the San Jose Mercury News and other news outlets.
However, the stories all state that Google plans to manufacture “early models” of the so-called “wearable computer” gadget in Santa Clara, which to me begs the question of how long production will be done here locally if the product takes off. The Financial Times report said initial production of the product is being done in Santa Clara, near Google’s Mountain View headquarters, in order to maintain better control over initial production quality so the product is well received in the market.
Google has been the most vocal about its plans for a wearable computer screen onto which images are projected that the user sees before their eyes. As I’ve reported previously, Microsoft and Apple also have obtained patents for similar products.
Google Glass, according to various reports, could operate as a video camera, display e-mail messages and would interact with a smartphone, presumably ones running Google’s Android operating system. While the Google Glass display would show information of interest to the user, they would still be able to see through the lens to view the actual world before them. Reports put the price for Google Glass at $1,500 with the product expected to go on sale later this year.
Foxconn is a contract manufacturer well known for being the place to which Silicon Valley tech companies outsource production of their products, usually overseas. Cupertino-based Apple, for instance, had to acknowledge reports that the Foxconn plant in China was employing illegal labor practices in the place where Apple iPhones were made.
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