Google acquires smartglasses manufacturer North

Google has acquired smartglasses manufacturer North. The tech giant has purchased the Canadian company - which launched a pair of almost ordinary-looking smartglasses last year - as it looks to expand its "hardware efforts". Rick Osterloh - Google's head of hardware - said in a statement: "North's technical expertise will help as we continue to invest in our hardware efforts and ambient computing future. "They'll join the Google team based in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada--North's hometown and an area with impressive tech talent. "We're excited to welcome our new colleagues, and committed to the growing global tech community of Kitchener-Waterloo." Meanwhile North co-founders Stephen Lake, Matthew Bailey and Aaron Grant have also commented on the new deal, and what it means for the future of the firm. They said in a blog post: "We are winding down Focals 1.0 and we will not be shipping Focals 2.0, but we hope you will continue the journey with us as we start this next chapter. "We couldn't be more thrilled to join Google, and to take an exciting next step towards the future we've been focused on for the past eight years."

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