Google’s Glass device came out just a few years ahead of the wearables wave when Apple Watches or fitness trackers suddenly made devices that attach to the body cool (or, at least, not uncool). However, only a few months after pulling the plug on any life support left for the original Glass, the Internet is abuzz with rumors of a second-generation model.
9to5Google was the first to spot an eBay listing by “azpawnbroker” for what looks like the rumored updated version of the Google Glass, complete with external facing LED light and articulating hinges on both arms. Specifically built for enterprise use, as opposed to the first model’s general public release and subsequent popularity fizzle, the next iteration of a Glass device has only been hinted at in FCC filings and rumors, Ars Technica explained, and other than verification from anonymous sources, it’s impossible to tell if this is truly a Google product that’s escaped into the wild.
There’s some circumstantial evidence, though. A-to-Z Pawnbrokers is a pawnshop conspicuously located in San Francisco and bids for the device have been increasing in much the same frenetic fashion that a legitimately leaked device would. At the time that 9to5Google noticed the listing on Saturday (March 19), the top bid was $700. When Ars Technica caught wind of it, the price had jumped to $3,250.
Now? A total of 62 bidders have managed to push the price of the unconfirmed Google Glass v2 to $9,100 — and there are still two days on the auction to go.
Curiously, nobody even tangentially involved in the possible leak of an unreleased Glass device would comment on the authenticity of the item — not Google, not its secretive X division, not even the San Francisco pawnshop selling it.
When the eBay auction ends Wednesday night around 7 p.m., at least one lucky (or unlucky) buyer will be the first to find out for sure.
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