Daily Video: Google Ends Its Google Glass Explorer Edition

Google decided to stop sales of the Google Glass Explorer edition, as of Jan. 19. This does not represent the end of the eyewear-mounted computer, but more of a transition so Google can focus on “what is coming next,” the company said in a Jan. 15 post on the project’s Google+ page.

“We’re continuing to build for the future, and you’ll start to see future versions of Glass when they’re ready,” the post said.

The company began shipping the first Google Glass units in April 2013, and while the product has undergone numerous development revisions since that time, it was never made available in retail stores.

Microsoft announced that the owners of new Samsung Smart TVs will have the ability to make free wide-angle video calls via Skype. The app is part of a firmware update for 2014 Samsung Smart TVs with built-in-cameras.

Consumers who acquired those sets and connected them to the Internet will receive a notification regarding the update. In a blog post, a Microsoft executive praised the ability for people to talk to each other naturally and comfortably, rather than clustered around a webcam.

Lenovo executives say the tech giant is creating a new company aimed at building products exclusively for the Internet of things. Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing told Bloomberg that officials are considering taking the new company, known as Shenqi, public after it officially opens on April 1. Shenqi will sell its own branded smartphones and connected devices rather than market them through channel partners.

A new study finds that enterprises are spending a great deal of time dealing with false malware alerts. A survey of IT professionals by the Ponemon Institute and Damballa found that enterprises spend nearly 400 hours per week dealing with malware alerts that are not always accurate.

Larry Ponemon, head of the Ponemon Institute, told eWEEK that while organizations receive nearly 17,000 malware alerts weekly, only 19 percent of the alerts are considered reliable and just 4 percent are investigated.