Motorola Solutions makes investment in Recon Instruments

Motorola Solutions invests in heads-up glasses start up Recon Instruments Motorola Solutions (no, not that Motorola the other one) has given a bag of cash to heads-up glasses maker Recon Instruments. Recon, whose Recon Jet HUD glasses we've been looking forward to for some time, didn't disclose the amount of the investment, but that it was enough to warrant a press release tells us it was at least marginally substantial to their bottom line. The investment will be "used to accelerate product development and to ramp up global marketing and distribution."

Recon Jet has focused on glasses for sports, though it seems that Motorola Solutions' investment is aimed at getting them to build glasses and accompanying software for their more corporate business applications. Said Motorola Solutions Venture Capital managing director Tony Palcheck:

"Recon Instruments is well known as a pioneer in the smartglasses market, with a focus on utility, durability and comfort. Those same attributes make their product relevant to the vertical markets that Motorola Solutions serves. Our customers need to have access to situation-specific information, instantly and hands-free in the moments that matter, and Recon's modular, ruggedized hardware, innovative user interface and flexible software can enable that. We believe their solution can be easily adapted to many first responder applications. All the elements for growth are in place."

That promised accelerated product development is something Recon Instruments could sorely use. Despite their announcing the Recon Jet glasses back in June of 2013 for $499 (in comparison to Google Glass at $1500) and selling out their pre-order allotment in July, the Recon Jet was delayed late last year for a redesign that was completed in January with production supposedly starting soon after that. The glasses have yet to ship at this point.

Press release:

Recon Instruments Secures Investment from Motorola Solutions

Support based on shared vision for delivering critical information instantly, unobtrusively in challenging environments April 23, 2014 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

VANCOUVER & SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Recon Instruments, the award-winning technology company behind the world's leading consumer Heads-up Displays (HUD) for sports, is pleased to announce that Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI), through its strategic investment arm Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, has made an investment in the company. Having shipped three generations of products already, Recon is a leading pioneer in wearable computing and Heads-up Display technology. The investment from Motorola Solutions will be used to accelerate product development and to ramp up global marketing and distribution.

"Our products are designed to deliver contextual visual information, instantly and hands-free, in the most demanding environments" said Dan Eisenhardt, CEO of Recon Instruments. "As we extend our scalable smartglasses platform into industrial and public safety markets, we can leverage Motorola Solutions' strength. Motorola Solutions is a global leader in ruggedized communication devices and data services, designed to perform in the most high-stress, high-focus situations imaginable, so the synergy is clear and powerful."

"Recon Instruments is well known as a pioneer in the smartglasses market, with a focus on utility, durability and comfort," said Tony Palcheck, managing director, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital. "Those same attributes make their product relevant to the vertical markets that Motorola Solutions serves. Our customers need to have access to situation-specific information, instantly and hands-free in the moments that matter, and Recon's modular, ruggedized hardware, innovative user interface and flexible software can enable that. We believe their solution can be easily adapted to many first responder applications. All the elements for growth are in place."

Motorola Solutions is a leading provider of mission-critical communication solutions and services for government and enterprise customers.

Complete information on Recon Instruments and its newest product, Jet, can be found at www.reconinstruments.com.

Via: Motorola Solutions makes investment in Recon Instruments