It has been two years since Google Glass was first announced, and since then, the hype around the device has steadily muted. One of the key reasons that Google has had trouble with the device is that the original processor was built by Texas Instruments (TI), and shortly after the Glass was launched, TI exited the business entirely. What this means is that developers were creating apps for a chip design that would never evolve and would shortly lose support from its manufacturer. One result of this is that when Google upgraded the OS to Android 4.4 (KitKat), a winner in smartphones, the Glass became “unusable” in the eyes of many early adopters.

So in that sense it is no surprise that Google had to find a new chip for its next iteration of the Glass, and now it appears as though Intel is going to be its manufacturer. Intel has long lamented its late entry into the wearables and mobile market, and is aggressively trying to find its way in. The company appears to have found one in the next iteration of Google Glass, expected to be released in 2015.

Overall, the updated Glass is expected to be smaller, which will help address the fact that many users thought that the original device was a bit 'dorky-looking'. In addition, it should run the latest versions of Android without trouble, have extended battery life, and be much more developer-friendly. Here's a patent awarded to Google recently that shows what the refreshed device might look like.