Fairfax Media has released a news app for Google Glass that allows overseas readers to access the latest news, sport and business content.
Google Glass is currently available in North America and the United Kingdom where communities of Australian ex-pats access Fairfax Media news content online. When Glass launches locally, the app will be immediately available to Australian audiences.
“The Sydney Morning Herald app for Glass is our latest and most innovative step in providing the content our audiences want, where and when they want it,” said Fairfax Media mobile director Stefan Savva.
Powered via voice control, the app for Glass allows overseas users to see the outside world and their immediate surroundings as they experience the latest online news, video and information from The Sydney Morning Herald.
“The app summarises the top stories across news, sport and business so that they are more convenient and suited to the Glass environment. When an article is selected by the user, the app uses text-to-voice technology to play an audio track directly into the Glass speaker,” said Savva.
Fairfax Media General Manager, product solutions Mark Cohen said: “Being constantly connected is the biggest change in consumer behaviour we will see in this generation. This offers vast opportunities to publishers to harness new technology and bring content to their mobile audiences, as well as opening up new opportunities to advertisers.
“Fairfax Media is continually seeking new and innovative ways to provide value to our readers and advertisers across our existing platforms, as well as new platforms. Over the next two years, we will see wearables, the connected car, connected home, location services and messaging apps launch and come into their own with connected users. These are just some of the new platforms that our digital audiences of more than 7 million Australians are thinking about and so are we.”
The Sydney Morning Herald app for Glass was developed as part of Fairfax Media’s quarterly innovation program, Ignition.The internal progam is designed to inspire the development of proof-of-concept products, which are later assessed for market potential.
Watch a demo of The Sydney Morning Herald app for Glass here.
