Google has officially announced that over the course of the next few weeks, it will be expanding the availability of Glass and refreshing the current Glass hardware.

Yesterday, Google published a post on its official Google Glass account on G+, notifying current Explorers that the development team at Mountain View HQ have been working on a new version of Glass for the past few months based on user feedback. The new version of the hardware will have compatibility with future prescription and sunglass lenses, as well as the inclusion of a mono earbud for enhanced audio playback.

To give us an insight into how Glass Explorers have been sharing their feedback with Google, and helping shape what the final product of Glass will become, the team at Mountain View published a special YouTube video showing how Explorers all over the States have been using their Glass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHnpt9toFnA

Explorers with Glass who purchased and acquired the unit prior to the announcement will be able visit their nearest Google office and swap it for the new version completely free of charge, starting next month. If you can’t find the time to make it to a Google office, Explorers now have the ability to order their unit online and get it shipped right to their “home, office, treehouse or igloo” – which is a huge breakthrough for the Glass Explorer program.

Finally, current Explorers now have the facility to invite three friends to become Explorers and pay for their own units. The option to invite friends to the scheme will be rolling out over the next few weeks. However, Google failed to specify how much the invitees will have to pay for their units in order to become second generation Glass Explorers, but we’re assuming it’s the same hefty fee of $1,500.

• SourceGoogle+