You may recall that early yesterday, we talked about the XE16 update to Google Glass, which finally brought Android 4.4.2 KitKat to the tech world’s most controversial piece of wearable computing. For those who don’t remember, XE16 brought several new additions such as Photo Bundles, Photos in Hangouts, and Voice Command Sorting.
At the time that the update first rolled out, we noted that although direct OTA links were available for your updating pleasure, there were no factory restore images to go along with the update. This was then a rather roundabout way of reaching the XE16 build, as users on older software who wanted to force the OTA would have to load XE12, and then receive or sideload the incremental OTAs for XE12.1 and XE16. We also noted that because only OTA links had been captured, there was no officially endorsed way of obtaining root access on XE16.
Now, however, Google has updated its Glass Factory Images page with both the XE16 firmware itself, as well as a rooted bootloader—both of which can be installed via Fastboot. Curiously, however, this update comes in at XRV15C, as opposed to yesterday’s XRV15B. Luckily, a minor incremental OTA was also made available for those who received yesterday’s build.
To get started, simply head over to the Google Glass Factory Images page and download the XE16 build and the associated rooted bootloader directly. And users looking for every known firmware for the device should check out XDA Recognized Contributor TheManii ‘s stock firmware thread.