Microsoft, Samsung developing high-tech specs to rival Google Glass

Samsung and Microsoft are getting in the glass game, The Post has learned.

Both companies are developing their own high-tech specs to rival Google Glass, sources said.

The two powerhouses are expected to show off web-connected glasses within six months, these sources said.

Mobile eyeglass computing, pioneered by Google, is still considered a consumer oddity, but electronics makers like Samsung and software developers like Microsoft already see the wearable technology as the next hot product.

“There is quite a bit of interest from Samsung and Microsoft,” said one source with knowledge of both companies’ glasses projects. “Anything that involves software and operating systems is going to have Microsoft’s attention.”

The Redmond, Wash., company is developing its glasses with its Xbox gaming in mind, but also has interest in software for other makers’ glasses, the source said.

Microsoft has had dealings with publicly traded Vuzix Corp., of Rochester, NY, which develops technology around sci-fi-like glasses, another source said.

At Samsung, executives have already ordered high-tech lenses from Israel-based Lumus, a main supplier of the specialty specs, the source said.

The companies are “waiting on their own development cycles,” a source added, noting that it may be as long as 12 months before either has a product to show the public.

While Microsoft and Samsung appear to be the furthest along with their glasses, they are not alone. Other companies, like Amazon and Apple, are showing varying levels of interest in developing such glasses, another industry insider said.

Asked point blank yesterday if they are developing a Google Glass-like product, Samsung said it has “nothing to share at this time.”

Microsoft did not return a request for comment.

Similarly, potential suppliers were not saying a word.

“We have no comment about what customers are using our products,” said Ari Grobman, director of business development at lens supplier Lumus.

As the wearable technology sector comes into focus, Google has clearly staked out an early lead.

The tech titan has early versions of its Google Glass out to app makers — and the first 8,000 customers, selected through a contest, are waiting to buy a pair for $1,500.

Google isn’t expected to start selling the device broadly until 2014.

Most feel the retail price will be much lower than the $1,500 charged to the contest winners. Grobman said the technology is such that they could be priced at between $200 and $500.

Glasses are still in the earliest commercial phase, but the electronics industry is preparing for the devices as if they will be the biggest disruption since the iPhone.

Consumers are still not sure what to make of the gadgets that some say look silly while others question their utility.

Future enthusiasts, however, believe the wearable technology will wow the public with high-def, full-screen imagery beamed right to your eye, while appearing to be 10 feet away.

“It’s about making a meaningful, contextual experience — that is really what our customers are working on,” Grobman said. “There could be a first-person shooter game with a virtual person — he doesn’t exist but to me he’s running at me in 3-D. He’s right there.”

Post photo composite

gsloane@nypost.com