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Google Glass chipset revealed, uses same processor family as the Galaxy Nexus

Google Glass chipset revealed, uses same processor family as the Galaxy Nexus

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Google Glass (STOCK)
Google Glass (STOCK)

We got a glimpse at the specifications of the Google Glass Explorer Edition earlier this month thanks to Google, and one early adopter has been able to glean even more information from the device itself. After hacker Liam McLoughlin discovered a debug mode on the Explorer Edition, Jay Lee was able to connect the device to the Android Debug Bridge and discover the operating system, processor type, and amount of RAM.

According to Lee, the device runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, and lists 682MB of RAM — though various messages lead Lee to believe the device actually has 1GB of RAM, with part of the memory reserved for unknown hardware-specific reasons. The processor, however, is somewhat of a surprise. The device is listed as running a dual-core OMAP 4430 system on a chip, though Lee was unable to confirm its speed. While the OMAP line made appearances in the original Kindle Fire and the then-flagship Galaxy Nexus, it's never seen the broad adoption in mobile devices Texas Instruments had hoped for. Smartphone manufacturers relied so heavily on options from the likes of Qualcomm, in fact, that Texas Instruments decided last year to drop smartphone development from its OMAP plans altogether. As more Explorer Editions make their way into users' hands, we expect even more revelations to emerge about the device — to say nothing of the Google Glass apps that are rolling out.