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Google Holding Contest For Right To Buy New Internet Glasses

MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS/AP) - Google is giving a few more people a chance to pay $1,500 for a pair of the Internet-connected glasses that the company is touting as the next breakthrough in mobile computing.

The product, dubbed "Google Glass," will be offered to those selected as part of a contest announced Wednesday. Participants must submit an application of up to 50 words explaining what they would do with the Google Glass technology. The deadline to apply is Feb. 27.

Google Inc. didn't say how many winning entries it would pick. The company doesn't plan to start selling Google Glass in the mass market until 2014.

The glasses will handle most of the same tasks as smartphones, but respond to voice commands instead of fingers touching a screen.

In the Google Glass "How it Feels" video, people speak the words "OK Glass" and then pick from a list of featured voice commands to send a message, record a video, take a photo, launch a video-chat hangout, conduct a search, check the weather, or get driving directions.

The demo is a concrete illustration of how Google is evolving its technology from a mere search engine to a constant personal companion that augments your mind.

When Microsoft introduced Windows 95, its Start menu became the gateway for just about anything you could do with the operating system. Google -- expecting to advance computing beyond the era of PCs and even smartphones -- no doubt hopes that "OK Glass" will become as familiar.

More on Google Glass from CNET.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco, CBS Interactive and the Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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