Eric Schmidt confirms: Early Explorers will get Google Glass in the next few days

Today at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference, Google’s Eric Schmidt confirmed on stage that early Explorers “will get Google Glass in the next few days.” This follows a recent email sent to developers which stated that the first wave of Glass prototypes is ready to go out.

The first batch of Explorers is the 2,000 or so attendees from last year’s I/O conference that pre-ordered the prototype. All Explorers will have to pay $1,500 for the device.

Late last month, Google admitted that it had revoked some of the invitations sent out to its latest Glass Explorer test group, because a number of accepted applicants failed to meet the original contest criteria.

The competition, launched in February, allowed Google+ and Twitter users to pitch what they would do with the device using the hashtag #ifihadglass. It’s worth noting that this is an entirely separate group to the I/O conference pre-orders, however, and there’s no word on when the devices will be shipped to this subset of pre-release users.

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Google Glass is one of the most exciting developments in consumer technology. It’s a working product and one that should be hitting store shelves before the end of the year. The interest in wearable devices has grown in recent months with the rumored Apple Smartwatch, but nothing announced to date has come close to the ambition of Google Glass.

Schmidt discussed a number of other topics at the D: Dive Into Mobile conference today, including North Korea and Android. Google’s executive chairman said he has “never seen a system that was so thought controlled,” in response to his trip to North Korea. On Android device adoption, Schmidt said that “Android will near 2 billion activations/sales in a year or two.”