Sony SmartEyeglass SED-E1 Developer Edition On Sale Worldwide

Sony SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 is now officially available in 10 selected countries around the world. Including: US, UK, Italy, Japan, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Germany. In any other countries, Sony SmartEyeglass SED-E1 will only be available only to business customer.

Would Sony Smartglass SED-E1 Repeat Google Glass’s Footsteps?

Google Glass was a huge failure, mainly because of its over the top price tag ($1,500 USD) and the lack of truly practical function and application. Functions featured on Google Glass were basically available on a smartphone like iPhone.

Why Buy Google Glass When You Can Pay Half For SED-E1?

Yes, Sony has made a smart move by setting SED-E1 Developer Edition price at $840 USD, nearly dropped half of the price compare to Google Glass. However, function-wise, from the video featured on Sony Mobile Official Developer page, we found absolutely nothing exciting or intriguing.

Sony SmartEyeglass Developer Edition SED-E1 can record video, take photos, show map navigation, record conversation, make live chat and conversation. But we wonder is that the best SED-E1 can do? We couldn’t tell what makes it better than Google Glasses? How is Sony going to convince or lure consumers to make the purchase?

The developer’s kit comes with a augmented reality glasses and a controller. Frankly speaking, the overall design looks out of date; they both look thick and heavy. The design seems to be inspired by designs from the 80’s and early 90’s. Reminds me of my vintage Oakley Sunglasses and that bulky Sony Walkman I used to own when I was a teenager.

The Smartglass Needs An Urgent Appearance Upgrade

That is not a good sign from a potential consumer, or is it? For a high technology electric consumer product, most tech savvy early adapters would probably expect something that looks sleek and better than Google Glasses.

The Mono Neon Green Display is Not The Best Idea

The glasses provide a natural field view, the text, icon, symbols, images are superimposed onto the user screen. Pop-up conversations, text box, user-interface are all in neon-green. It looks generic and even my smartphone’s interface looks more modern. This is not exactly the kind of holographic, virtual and augmented reality technologies I have in mind. Product Spec is available here.

This is not a very exciting review, but perhaps, Sony have a better plan in mind since they rolled out the developer edition first, we hope to see something more exciting from developers in the near future. Let’s wait and see market’s reaction and response to Sony SmartEyeglass SED-E1 Developer Edition in the coming months.