Google is relying on a little social networking to put its internet-connected glasses on the heads of more people.
The expanded sales of the device known as Google Glass will come as part of an invitation-only program announced Monday.
The roughly 10,000 Glass owners who began testing the device earlier this year will each be allowed to invite up to three people to buy the device. The early Glass users are primarily computer programmers and winners of an online contest conducted earlier this year.
The recipients of the invitations will have to pay $1,500 apiece for Glass, which works like a smartphone except that it's worn on the head like a pair of spectacles. The device includes a speaker, a hand-free camera and a thumbnail-sized display screen attached to the frame above the right eye.
Google's computerized specs also got new Cards that function through Google Now, the company's real-time personal assistant service. The new Cards can remind users about dinner reservations, concerts, hotel reservations and more.
Proximity-based alerts to emergency situations were also added.
Among the software upgrades include improvements to the video player controls, Tech Week Europe reports. Now users can toggle between play and pause by tapping on the frame, and rewind and fast forward by swiping back and forth.
Other minor updates include the ability to add captions to pictures and video using voice commands and improved SMS texting functionality.
There's no final release date for a full retail rollout of Google Glass but it's expected to hit store shelves sometime in 2014.
Details about the final price are also scarce but rumors suggest it could ultimately cost between $300-500 for consumers. Individuals testing a beta version of the device paid $1,500 to get their hands on it early.
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