Google is starting to notify 8,000 people who will be invited to buy a test version of the company's much-anticipated Internet-connected glasses for $1,500.
The invitations are being sent to the winners of a contest conducted a month ago. Google asked U.S. residents to submit applications through Twitter or its Plus service to explain in 50 words or less how they would use a technology that is being hailed as the next breakthrough in mobile computing.
The product is called Google Glass. It's supposed to perform many of the same tasks as smartphones, except the spectacles respond to voice commands instead of fingers touching a display screen. The glasses are equipped with a hidden camera and tiny display screen attached to a rim above the right eye.