Google launches music-streaming service

A sign for the Google digital music store is seen during an unveiling event in Los Angeles. Source: AP

GOOGLE will take on established music-streaming services after launching its own unlimited song subscription service in the US ahead of a global roll out.

Google announced its Music All Access service at its annual developer conference, Google I/O, in San Francisco this morning, confirming rumours that had swirled around the internet giant.

The streaming service will be offered for a monthly fee of $US9.99 ($10.05), starting with a free 30-day trial.

Google Android engineering director Chris Yerga said the All Access offering was "the next generation of our music service" and would provide personalised recommendations to users based on their past choices.

Users would also be able to create playlists, or virtual radio stations, based on a song choice and could remove any unwanted songs suggested with touch gestures.

"This is radio without rules,'' he said. "It's as lean-back as you want or as interactive as you want."

Google's music-streaming service arrives just as many music-streaming services celebrate their first birthday in Australia, including major offerings Spotify and Rdio.

Google's song offering could undercut the price of the existing services, however, with Spotify charging $11.99 per month for mobile phone music streaming and Rdio charging $12.90.

Google also used the I/O conference to reveal users had activated more than 900 million Google Android devices, making it the most popular smartphone platform, and they had installed more than 48 billion apps, including 2.8 billion in the last month alone.

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Google mail, apps are down

Google mail and some other app have been "disrupted" for some users, as the company investigates the cause. Picture: AP Source: AP

GOOGLE'S mail and application services are unavailable to some users.

The company says it's investigating the problems, but doesn't know their cause.

Google's apps status dashboard shows that its Mail, Drive file storage service and office-application services are "disrupted."

Its administrator control panel, which lets companies manage their Google applications, is completely down.

The disruptions started affecting people worldwide around 8 a.m. Eastern time.

Google says it's "working hard to restore normal operation."

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Google mail, apps are down

Google mail and some other app have been "disrupted" for some users, as the company investigates the cause. Picture: AP Source: AP

GOOGLE'S mail and application services are unavailable to some users.

The company says it's investigating the problems, but doesn't know their cause.

Google's apps status dashboard shows that its Mail, Drive file storage service and office-application services are "disrupted."

Its administrator control panel, which lets companies manage their Google applications, is completely down.

The disruptions started affecting people worldwide around 8 a.m. Eastern time.

Google says it's "working hard to restore normal operation."

View the original article here

PLUS D: 'What Google should be like'

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks speaks to the media and members of the public from a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Picture: AP file Source: AP

WIKILEAKS has launched its own search engine.

At midnight this morning - via Skype, from the Equadorian embassy - Julian Assange unveiled the new search engine named PLUS D (The Public Library of United States Diplomacy).

The search engine is a portal to an archive of 1.7 million US diplomatic cables which include 250,000 leaked State Department cables that were made public during Cablegate, the time in US history where memos of Henry Kissinger's time as US Secretary of State were made public.

And more than 251,000 of those cables relate to events or communications between 2003-2010.

Assange confirmed that the US state department documents listed on PLUS D are already declassified and much of the information has already been available in the US National Archives and Record Agency.

Assange said that the range of publicly-available documents range in the number of two million and were therefore not efficient to search through.

"Just look at The Kissinger Cables to be released today, they are technically in the public domain," he said… They were not practical or efficient for people to make sense of them or to use them.

"There would be about 1.7 new PDF files of information so they're not essentially usable to do sophisticated searches across the lot."

The search engine is a marked change from WikiLeaks who have previously relied on "old school" style of journalism. During his press conference Assange said Plus D would make it easier for journalists to conduct investigations, by using a search algorithm that "rivalled Google".

"It is a search system that I am quite proud of," he said. "One of our people recently said this is what Google should be like.

"This is a search system that investigative journalists can use effectively."

View the original article here

PLUS D: 'What Google should be like'

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks speaks to the media and members of the public from a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. Picture: AP file Source: AP

WIKILEAKS has launched its own search engine.

At midnight this morning - via Skype, from the Equadorian embassy - Julian Assange unveiled the new search engine named PLUS D (The Public Library of United States Diplomacy).

The search engine is a portal to an archive of 1.7 million US diplomatic cables which include 250,000 leaked State Department cables that were made public during Cablegate, the time in US history where memos of Henry Kissinger's time as US Secretary of State were made public.

And more than 251,000 of those cables relate to events or communications between 2003-2010.

Assange confirmed that the US state department documents listed on PLUS D are already declassified and much of the information has already been available in the US National Archives and Record Agency.

Assange said that the range of publicly-available documents range in the number of two million and were therefore not efficient to search through.

"Just look at The Kissinger Cables to be released today, they are technically in the public domain," he said… They were not practical or efficient for people to make sense of them or to use them.

"There would be about 1.7 new PDF files of information so they're not essentially usable to do sophisticated searches across the lot."

The search engine is a marked change from WikiLeaks who have previously relied on "old school" style of journalism. During his press conference Assange said Plus D would make it easier for journalists to conduct investigations, by using a search algorithm that "rivalled Google".

"It is a search system that I am quite proud of," he said. "One of our people recently said this is what Google should be like.

"This is a search system that investigative journalists can use effectively."

View the original article here

Google search reaches for the stars

This artist rendering shows the different types of planets in our Milky Way galaxy detected by NASAs Kepler spacecraft. Source: Supplied

INTERNET giant Google its taking its search function to new heights: Finding new planets, no less.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will be launched in 2017 and will see Google join NASA to send a set of specialist cameras in to space to scan the skies for planets orbiting bright nearby stars.

NASA has said the satellite will focus upon stars likely to have Earth-like planets.

It will use a technique to analyse starlight to find planets as they swing around their stars, similar to that used by the Kepler telescope which has already found some 2700 orbiting bodies.

"TESS will carry out the first space-borne all-sky transit survey, covering 400 times as much sky as any previous mission," George Ricker, TESS' principle investigator, said in a statement.

"It will identify thousands of new planets in the solar neighbourhood, with a special focus on planets comparable in size to the Earth."

NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to capture a small asteroid and park it near the moon to explore.

Google's role so far extends back to 2008 when it provided initial funding for the development of the telescope's sensors and optical cameras.

Are there plans to launch a Google Space View to join its terrestrial equivalent?

Google has not said.

The launch is one of two projects slated by NASA to be launched in 2017.

The second involves a neutron star scanner to be fitted to the International Space Station.

This illustration provided by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows artist's renderings of planets Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f compared with Venus and the Earth. Scientists have found the two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star, an encouraging sign for prospects of finding life elsewhere.

View the original article here

Google search reaches for the stars

This artist rendering shows the different types of planets in our Milky Way galaxy detected by NASAs Kepler spacecraft. Source: Supplied

INTERNET giant Google its taking its search function to new heights: Finding new planets, no less.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will be launched in 2017 and will see Google join NASA to send a set of specialist cameras in to space to scan the skies for planets orbiting bright nearby stars.

NASA has said the satellite will focus upon stars likely to have Earth-like planets.

It will use a technique to analyse starlight to find planets as they swing around their stars, similar to that used by the Kepler telescope which has already found some 2700 orbiting bodies.

"TESS will carry out the first space-borne all-sky transit survey, covering 400 times as much sky as any previous mission," George Ricker, TESS' principle investigator, said in a statement.

"It will identify thousands of new planets in the solar neighbourhood, with a special focus on planets comparable in size to the Earth."

NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to capture a small asteroid and park it near the moon to explore.

Google's role so far extends back to 2008 when it provided initial funding for the development of the telescope's sensors and optical cameras.

Are there plans to launch a Google Space View to join its terrestrial equivalent?

Google has not said.

The launch is one of two projects slated by NASA to be launched in 2017.

The second involves a neutron star scanner to be fitted to the International Space Station.

This illustration provided by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics shows artist's renderings of planets Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f compared with Venus and the Earth. Scientists have found the two Earth-sized planets orbiting a distant star, an encouraging sign for prospects of finding life elsewhere.

View the original article here

Google Chromebook reaches Australia

The new Google Chromebook utilizes cloud storage for all your files. Source: Supplied

THE Google Chromebook, a product that has been available in the US for more than two years, has finally hit Australian shelves. But what is it and why would you want one?

> The basics

It looks like a cheap laptop but it's different to the style of laptop you are probably familiar with. Think of this as the terminal that you can use while the main brain of the computer is stored elsewhere. The machine boots up quicker than a Windows laptop, and it is fast and simple to switch between users.

A Chromebook runs on Google's operating system, which is called ChromeOS.

The Chrome web browser is at the heart of the computer. You don't install programs like you would on a Windows-based laptop, you load apps through the Chrome store.

While some Chromebooks have memory card slots, you typically don't store your files on the machine. This is a machine that's made to interact with cloud storage.

You start up the machine and access your files through Google Docs, Gmail or Google Drive.

If you plan on travelling overseas to places where you may not get wi-fi, then this may not be the device for you.

But if you're always online, then this is a cheap and very portable option.

And because your files are stored in the cloud, you don't lose them if you should happen to lose your Chromebook.

> The models

There are two models coming to Australia. The Samsung Chromebook ($349) has a VGA camera, an HDMI port and two USB ports. It weighs 1.1kg, is 17.5mm thick and promises 6.5 hours of battery life.

The Acer Chromebook ($299) is slightly thicker and heavier at 25mm and 1.38kg, has three USB ports, an HDMI port and a memory card slot. It promises up to four hours of battery life. Both models have 11.6-inch displays and come with 100GB of Google Drive Cloud storage for two years.

View the original article here

Google Chromebook reaches Australia

The new Google Chromebook utilizes cloud storage for all your files. Source: Supplied

THE Google Chromebook, a product that has been available in the US for more than two years, has finally hit Australian shelves. But what is it and why would you want one?

> The basics

It looks like a cheap laptop but it's different to the style of laptop you are probably familiar with. Think of this as the terminal that you can use while the main brain of the computer is stored elsewhere. The machine boots up quicker than a Windows laptop, and it is fast and simple to switch between users.

A Chromebook runs on Google's operating system, which is called ChromeOS.

The Chrome web browser is at the heart of the computer. You don't install programs like you would on a Windows-based laptop, you load apps through the Chrome store.

While some Chromebooks have memory card slots, you typically don't store your files on the machine. This is a machine that's made to interact with cloud storage.

You start up the machine and access your files through Google Docs, Gmail or Google Drive.

If you plan on travelling overseas to places where you may not get wi-fi, then this may not be the device for you.

But if you're always online, then this is a cheap and very portable option.

And because your files are stored in the cloud, you don't lose them if you should happen to lose your Chromebook.

> The models

There are two models coming to Australia. The Samsung Chromebook ($349) has a VGA camera, an HDMI port and two USB ports. It weighs 1.1kg, is 17.5mm thick and promises 6.5 hours of battery life.

The Acer Chromebook ($299) is slightly thicker and heavier at 25mm and 1.38kg, has three USB ports, an HDMI port and a memory card slot. It promises up to four hours of battery life. Both models have 11.6-inch displays and come with 100GB of Google Drive Cloud storage for two years.

View the original article here

An Ode to Google Reader: Farewell

An ode to google reader' is a tearful, songful goodbye to the app, featuring what else but crying animals. Vision: YouTube/HitReach

"So farewell Google Reader, my favourite RSS feeder," the song goes. These damn allergies. Source: Supplied

GOOGLE Readers are so sad to see the service go that one particularly sensitive type has written a song about it.

Web Design and SEO company, Hit Reach uploaded "An Ode to Google Reader" to its YouTube account. If the pictures of sad animals weren't enough to make you cry, the lyrics will.

"Gonna miss you Google Reader, hope they keep you alive. You've been my best friend since 2005," the song goes.

Watch the video above and weep for the loss of this amazing tool.

The video comes less than a week after Google announced it would be closing its RSS feed for news stories, Google Reader. The service will stop operating on July 1.

There are numerous petitions already in circulation, begging the tech giant to keep the service operating.

A recent study showed that Google Reader actually drives far more traffic than Google Plus.

Depressing? Yes. A BuzzFeed study highlighted how much traffic Google Reader drives, compared to Google Plus. Source: Supplied

According to data from the BuzzFeed network, Google Reader drives between 7 million and 25 million referrals to news sites, whereas Google Plus delivers almost none.

Despite these dismal figures Google claims it has more than 100 million active Google Plus users.

Farewell Google Reader, we’re going to miss you.

View the original article here

An Ode to Google Reader: Farewell

An ode to google reader' is a tearful, songful goodbye to the app, featuring what else but crying animals. Vision: YouTube/HitReach

"So farewell Google Reader, my favourite RSS feeder," the song goes. These damn allergies. Source: Supplied

GOOGLE Readers are so sad to see the service go that one particularly sensitive type has written a song about it.

Web Design and SEO company, Hit Reach uploaded "An Ode to Google Reader" to its YouTube account. If the pictures of sad animals weren't enough to make you cry, the lyrics will.

"Gonna miss you Google Reader, hope they keep you alive. You've been my best friend since 2005," the song goes.

Watch the video above and weep for the loss of this amazing tool.

The video comes less than a week after Google announced it would be closing its RSS feed for news stories, Google Reader. The service will stop operating on July 1.

There are numerous petitions already in circulation, begging the tech giant to keep the service operating.

A recent study showed that Google Reader actually drives far more traffic than Google Plus.

Depressing? Yes. A BuzzFeed study highlighted how much traffic Google Reader drives, compared to Google Plus. Source: Supplied

According to data from the BuzzFeed network, Google Reader drives between 7 million and 25 million referrals to news sites, whereas Google Plus delivers almost none.

Despite these dismal figures Google claims it has more than 100 million active Google Plus users.

Farewell Google Reader, we’re going to miss you.

View the original article here

Google unveils a pair of talking shoes

A smart sneaker with personality that can broadcast its story to the web.

BECAUSE inventing Google Glass wasn't impressive enough, the tech giant unveiled a pair of talking shoes at SXSW.

Calm down, Google Shoes are not going to be a thing. The experiment was designed to highlight its new advertising platform called Art, Copy and Code.

Google hacked a pair of Adidas sneakers to show "how you can use objects to tell stories on the web today," Aman Govil, head of the advertising team told the ABC (US).

The shoes can tell the person wearing them what they are doing (or aren't doing) and can relay that information to their smartphone via a speaker in the tongue of the shoe.

The sneakers also house a small computer, accelerometer, pressure sensor, a gyroscope and Bluetooth.

The experiment is meant to work the way many other fitness gadgets do, relaying information about your activity and berating you when you're not being active enough.

"If you put what the shoe knows through an algorithmic logic engine, it can translate it into copy," Govil said. "Now if you give that copy to an interesting copy writer, you could give the shoe personality. One shoe could be the trash-talking shoe."

It's a novel idea but given that it needs a phone to function, there's probably no need for your shoes to be the gadgets that do the talking. All Google really demonstrated was that the sneakers could do what a smartphone is already capable of.

Who hacks a shoe? Honestly. Source: Supplied

 

View the original article here

Google unveils talking shoes at SXSW

A smart sneaker with personality that can broadcast its story to the web.

BECAUSE inventing Google Glass wasn't impressive enough, the tech giant unveiled a pair of talking shoes at SXSW.

Calm down, Google Shoes are not going to be a thing. The experiment was designed to highlight its new advertising platform called Art, Copy and Code.

Google hacked a pair of Adidas sneakers to show "how you can use objects to tell stories on the web today," Aman Govil, head of the advertising team told the ABC (US).

The shoes can tell the person wearing them what they are doing (or aren't doing) and can relay that information to their smartphone via a speaker in the tongue of the shoe.

The sneakers also house a small computer, accelerometer, pressure sensor, a gyroscope and Bluetooth.

The experiment is meant to work the way many other fitness gadgets do, relaying information about your activity and berating you when you're not being active enough.

"If you put what the shoe knows through an algorithmic logic engine, it can translate it into copy," Govil said. "Now if you give that copy to an interesting copy writer, you could give the shoe personality. One shoe could be the trash-talking shoe."

It's a novel idea but given that it needs a phone to function, there's probably no need for your shoes to be the gadgets that do the talking. All Google really demonstrated was that the sneakers could do what a smartphone is already capable of.

Who hacks a shoe? Honestly. Source: Supplied

 

View the original article here

How Google Glasses will make dating creepy

REMINDER: More like a creep. Source: news.com.au

GOOGLE Glasses just made dating a whole lot creepier.

Comedian Dartanion London has made a YouTube video that envisions what a first date will be like once Google Glasses go mainstream.

The video shows a man programming affirmations like "Reminder you are a pimp" onto his glasses, to boost his self esteem - mid-date - while his date is none the wiser.

Googling people while you are talking to them is another possibility, as shown in the video.

This video should not be used as a "how to" guide.

For example, playing Minecraft, or watching football mid-date are really bad ideas, as is video conferencing with your friends.

Watch the video for yourself, then do the opposite.

View the original article here

How Google Glasses will make dating creepy

REMINDER: More like a creep. Source: news.com.au

GOOGLE Glasses just made dating a whole lot creepier.

Comedian Dartanion London has made a YouTube video that envisions what a first date will be like once Google Glasses go mainstream.

The video shows a man programming affirmations like "Reminder you are a pimp" onto his glasses, to boost his self esteem - mid-date - while his date is none the wiser.

Googling people while you are talking to them is another possibility, as shown in the video.

This video should not be used as a "how to" guide.

For example, playing Minecraft, or watching football mid-date are really bad ideas, as is video conferencing with your friends.

Watch the video for yourself, then do the opposite.

View the original article here

Google plans to touch up Apple

A man tests the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. Source: AP

GOOGLE is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine Microsoft and Apple.

"People will give up a MacBook Air for this," Chrome senior vice president Sundar Pichai said while showing off the premium end of what, to now, were low-priced notebook computers that serve as windows to internet-based services.

A Pixel model featuring built-in connectivity to Verizon mobile Internet service will hit the market in April at a price of $US1449 ($A1300), according to Google.  

The version available on Thursday allowed connections to the internet with wireless hot-spot technology or cables.

"It's a great looking product," Om Malik of technology news website GigaOm said at the Pixel debut in San Francisco.

"But Google is facing a selling problem, they have to compete on price originally and build a developer base for a high-end product."

Google hoped people look beyond comparing Pixel prices with competitors such as MacBooks or laptops built on Windows 8 software to see the value the touch-screen and the massive terabyte of Google Drive online data storage included.

People test the the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop after an announcement in San Francisco.

"It is clear that touch is here to stay and that it is the future," Pichai said. "I am sure every laptop will have touch in the future."

He described the Pixel screen resolution as superior to that on any laptop being shipped today, including Apple's premium MacBook models.

Google also set out to remedy a complaint by Chrome notebook users frustrated when trying to work with documents or spreadsheets made with Microsoft's widely-used Word or Excel software.

Within three months, Google will release Quickoffice software for handling those types of files, according to Pichai.

The announcement adds a new dimension to the rivalry between the two tech giants, which are in a fierce battle over smartphones and tablets.

Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Chrome and apps, discusses the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop.

View the original article here

#IfIhadglass: How to get Google Glass

Google Glasses now available to pre-order for $1500, if you are chosen

Google is running a competition where a few lucky people will have the chance to test out Google Glass. Source: Supplied

WANT a pair of Google glasses? You're going to have to take a number and get in line.

But a new competition might increase your chances a little bit.

Google wants people to tell it what they would do if they had Google Glass - the name of its incredible new technology which allows users to record video and take photos, participate in Google hangouts and make phone calls using a pair of glasses.

Unsurprisingly the competition is called #ifIhadglass.

You can enter by using Google+ or Twitter to describe - in 50 words or less - what you would do if you had Glass. You must add the hashtag #ifIhadglass to your application. Applicants should also be sure to follow +ProjectGlass on Google+ or @projectglass on Twitter so they can contact you directly.

"We're still in the early stages, and while we can't promise everything will be perfect, we can promise it will be exciting," Google wrote on the webpage for its competition.

Julia Gillard may have her own pair but unfortunately she will be the only Aussie that gets to shape how Google Glass works as only US residents are allowed to enter.

For now we'll have to live vicariously through the internet as we watch, disconnected, the amazing things that could come from this technology.
 

View the original article here

Google plans to touch up Apple

A man tests the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop computer. Google is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine personal computers running on software made by rivals Microsoft and Apple. Source: AP

GOOGLE is adding a new touch to its line of Chrome laptops in an attempt to outshine Microsoft and Apple.

"People will give up a MacBook Air for this," Chrome senior vice president Sundar Pichai said while showing off the premium end of what, to now, were low-priced notebook computers that serve as windows to internet-based services.

A Pixel model featuring built-in connectivity to Verizon mobile Internet service will hit the market in April at a price of $US1449 ($A1300), according to Google.  

The version available on Thursday allowed connections to the internet with wireless hot-spot technology or cables.

"It's a great looking product," Om Malik of technology news website GigaOm said at the Pixel debut in San Francisco.

"But Google is facing a selling problem, they have to compete on price originally and build a developer base for a high-end product."

Google hoped people look beyond comparing Pixel prices with competitors such as MacBooks or laptops built on Windows 8 software to see the value the touch-screen and the massive terabyte of Google Drive online data storage included.

People test the the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop after an announcement in San Francisco.

"It is clear that touch is here to stay and that it is the future," Pichai said. "I am sure every laptop will have touch in the future."

He described the Pixel screen resolution as superior to that on any laptop being shipped today, including Apple's premium MacBook models.

Google also set out to remedy a complaint by Chrome notebook users frustrated when trying to work with documents or spreadsheets made with Microsoft's widely-used Word or Excel software.

Within three months, Google will release Quickoffice software for handling those types of files, according to Pichai.

The announcement adds a new dimension to the rivalry between the two tech giants, which are in a fierce battle over smartphones and tablets.

Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president of Chrome and apps, discusses the Google Chromebook Pixel laptop.

View the original article here

#IfIhadglass: How to get Google Glass

Google Glasses now available to pre-order for $1500, if you are chosen

Google is running a competition where a few lucky people will have the chance to test out Google Glass. Source: Supplied

WANT a pair of Google glasses? You're going to have to take a number and get in line.

But a new competition might increase your chances a little bit.

Google wants people to tell it what they would do if they had Google Glass - the name of its incredible new technology which allows users to record video and take photos, participate in Google hangouts and make phone calls using a pair of glasses.

Unsurprisingly the competition is called #ifIhadglass.

You can enter by using Google+ or Twitter to describe - in 50 words or less - what you would do if you had Glass. You must add the hashtag #ifIhadglass to your application. Applicants should also be sure to follow +ProjectGlass on Google+ or @projectglass on Twitter so they can contact you directly.

"We're still in the early stages, and while we can't promise everything will be perfect, we can promise it will be exciting," Google wrote on the webpage for its competition.

Julia Gillard may have her own pair but unfortunately she will be the only Aussie that gets to shape how Google Glass works as only US residents are allowed to enter.

For now we'll have to live vicariously through the internet as we watch, disconnected, the amazing things that could come from this technology.
 

View the original article here

'Hipster' Julia tries out Google glass

Google Glasses now available to pre-order for $1500, if you are chosen

• Google glass due to hit the market in 2014
• Acts like a smartphone and is operated by voice commands
• Tipped to cost $750 USD when they go on sale to the public
• Kev's poker face  | KRudd's social media cold shower
• Gaynor quits Katter party over abortion|Gloves are off with Green alliance
  

AS Australia's first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard's fashion choices are poured over, news that her hipster specs have been given the flick for Google glasses will have the nation in a flap.

Ms Gillard yesterday got a chance to try the high-tech glasses which are tipped to cost at least $750USD and will allow users to wear a device that operates a lot like a smartphone.  Google glass has motion sensors and GPS and can be controlled by voice commands or head tilts.

The PM got a chance to try out the new specs when she met with Google’s Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette and tried on the frames that designers are hoping to build in such a way that vision-impaired tech fans like Ms Gillard won't be required to wear both their own lenses and Google glass.

A photograph of Ms Gillard in the cutting-edge specs was posted on the prime minister's Facebook page and soon attracted plenty of negative and positive comments.

Prime Minsiter Julia gillard posted this image of herself trying out Google glass during a meeting with the company's Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette on her Facebook page.

But it's hardly the first time, Ms Gillard's accessories have stirred a national debate of glasses, fashion and the way we talk about female politicians in this country.

Two weeks ago the PM got the nation talking and creating witty memes as she announced the date of the next federal election wearing new frames.

The PM, who normally wears contact lenses,  took to the lectern at the National Press Club sporting the stylish black-framed spectacles that many dubbed as "hipster specs" which are "super stylish".

Julia Gillard addressed the National Press Club wearing her new frames. Picture: Ray Strange

In response to queries on Twitter, her press secretary John McTernan pointed out that Ms Gillard's use of glasses is not new - but that this is a new pair.

While the PM looked like she enjoyed using Google glass, the device isn't due to hit the market until 2014 so it may be a while before our leaders beam up Google searches. 

Twitter reaction to Gillard's glasses. Picture: Twitter

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