Google earlier this week kicked off a contest to open up its Glass Explorer program to more people, encouraging regular folks to tell the company what they'd do with the headwear using the hashtag "#ifihadglass" on Google+ or Twitter. There's some good news today for anyone that doesn't make the cut, though, as El Goog has shed a bit more light on when Glass will be made available to the public. Google tells The Verge that it's aiming to release a "fully-polished" version of Glass by the end of 2013 and that the device will feature a price tag that's under $1,500.

While the release and pricing information shared by Google today isn't exactly what most people would call specific, it's certainly the most detailed info we've received about the consumer launch of Glass so far. We'll have to wait until we get closer to launch before Google nails down the exact price of Glass, and while we know it'll be less than $1,500, the cost of the first publicly-available Glass unit likely won't be cheap. Considering the tech involved with Glass, though, that's kind of expected. No one ever said that being an early adopter is cheap, right?

Along with today's vague availability information, Google allowed The Verge to spend some hands-on (head-on?) time with Glass, and a bit more information about the unit itself was revealed in the process. Google says that it's planning to offer the first version in black, white, gray, orange and blue, giving buyers a handful of different ways to make Glass a bit more personal. To gather data, Glass can either connect itself to Wi-Fi or tether to an Android or iPhone device over Bluetooth. Compatibility with Android isn't a surprise, but it's good to hear that Google is also planning to support iPhone with Glass, which is a move that'll open up the group of potential buyers quite a bit more. Now that some more information about Google Glass is trickling out, what do you think of it? Do you think that you might splurge on a unit later this year?

Via The Verge (1), (2)