Glass OS (Google XE) is a version of
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
's
Android operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...
designed for
Google Glass
Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a brand of smart glasses developed and sold by Google. It was developed by X (previously Google X), with the mission of producing an ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using ...
. "glass-omap" Tag is used in referring to the modified Android code which can be found inside Kernel Repository.
Release history
The following list shows the main changes happened for each update release. For more detailed release notes visi
the support website
April 11, 2013: XE4.0
Initial release.
May 7, 2013: XE5.0
XE5 updates included:
* Change to sync policy: require power + WiFi for background uploads
* Crash reporting
* Incoming G+ notifications (direct shares, comments, +mentions), including ability to comment and +1
* Incoming Hangout notifications
* Transcription of queries & messages is now wicked-fast
* Long-press to search from anywhere in the UI (no longer just from off)
* International number dialing + SMS
* Hop animation on disallowed swipes in the UI
* New On-Head Detection calibration flow
* Show device Serial Number on Device Info card
* More reliable estimation of battery charge remaining
* New recipient-list mosaic
June 4, 2013: XE6.0
XE6 updates include:
* Better photos through Glass
* Voice annotate your photos and videos when sharing
* Improvements to On-Head Detection. Please re-calibrate to enable the improvements.
* Improved cards in Google Now for Sports, and a new card for Birthdays
* Fixes for several issues
Glass OS update
Glass updates by itself automatically
over the air
Over the Air was an annual mobile technology-focused overnight hack day event held in London from 2008 to 2016. The two-day event would include practical and educational talks and a hacking competition. Sponsors of the event have included the B ...
. Glass will check Google servers periodically for updates. When an update is available, Glass will download it to the device and will install the update all by itself. This happens under the condition of active battery charging and a reliable
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...
connection.
OS hacks
Gain root access
Root access can be easily obtained by using the following script using the rooted bootloader.
Flash factory image
Extract the desired factory system image package to flash Glass back to factory specifications, then run the following script.
Boot and system images can be found o
Google Glass developer website
$ adb reboot bootloader # enter fastboot mode
$ fastboot devices # verify device is in fastboot, should see its serial no.
$ fastboot flash boot boot.img # flash partitions with factory images
$ fastboot flash system system.img
$ fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
$ fastboot erase cache # optional, erase the cache and userdata partitition
$ fastboot erase userdata
$ fastboot oem lock # optional, only if you want to re-lock the bootloader.
Modify Kernel source code
The kernel source code is easily attainable from the Google repository by using the following script.
$ mkdir
$ cd
$ git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/omap.git
Build OS kernel from source code
To build kernel from the source code, first download the
GCC toolchain from the same repository.
$ git clone https://android.googlesource.com/platform/prebuilt
$ export PATH=/prebuilt/linux-x86/toolchain/arm-eabi-4.4.3/bin:$PATH
Then, build the kernel using these commands.
$ export ARCH=arm
$ export SUBARCH=arm
$ export CROSS_COMPILE=arm-eabi-
$ cd /omap
$ git checkout glass-omap-xrr02 #choose the suitable release
$ make notle_defconfig
$ make
References
{{Google Inc.
2013 software
Android (operating system)
Augmented reality
Google operating systems