Google Glass price, release date: Wearables seems to be the overarching theme at the Consumer Electronics Show 2014 in Vegas this week and the question is, will Google Glass lead the way in making the tech category mainstream? The make or break for Google’s leadership in the market with the Glass all depends on the price. The AR lens is expected to hit stores this year.

“A new high-end smartphone without a contract runs around $600, if Google can hit a price tag under $300 it would make Glass significantly more appealing,” writes CNET’s Seth Rosenblatt.

In fact it’s very pricing could effectively make it a market leader and probably the next iPhone in the tech space. A Business Insider (BI) analyst predicts that Glass will sell 18 million units by 2018 if the device is priced at around $500.

An earlier study by Forrester Research also noted that the AR lens could be the next big thing. In their research, it revealed that up to 21 million Americans would be willing to wear the Glass daily.

Like Apple with the iPhone and iPad, the argument Google needs to make is how much of a need, whether in reality or style, does people need Glass.

“But if Google succeeds with Glass, and we'll have a much better idea of whether it will 12 months from now,” writes Rosenblatt, “it'll be because the company has been able to build a compelling device never seen before and convince people that they need it.”
Though there are no specific dates on when Google Glass will hit the market, speculations suggest that it could be available by the end of the first half of 2014.

Samsung has already become the world’s leading wearable tech leader with the Samsung Galaxy Gear selling 800,000 units and a variety of tech giants are jumping on the bandwagon.

Intel’s recent announcement at the CES 2014 that it’s moving into wearables with a variety of products including a smartwatch and a ear-bud with a built-in heart rate monitor, suggests that more and more products and companies will make wearable devices.

There are also numerous other companies, including Pebble and Kiwi wearables who are showing off their new wares at the Consumer Electronics Show. Wired Magazine’s 2014 edition declares in their cover story that wearable tech will be as big as the smartphone.

As the year continues, it will be interesting to see how wearable tech would evolve and if Google’s Glass highly-publicized AR lens will lead the way in encouraging consumers to also jump into buying wearables.