Where Google failed, Sony hopes to succeed. Its SmartEyeglass Developer Edition eyewear is available now for pre-order in the U.K. and Germany.

The SED-E1 transparent-lens headset will go on sale in eight more countries—Japan, the U.S., France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden—next month. Developers can access the official version of the SmartEyeglass SDK today.

Using holographic wavelength technology, Sony's futuristic glasses connect with compatible smartphones to superimpose information onto the wearer's field of view—"without any half mirrors that may obstruct the user's vision," the company boasted.

It also comes with a built-in 3-megapixel CMOS image sensor, accelerometer, gyro, electronic compass, and brightness sensor, behind the 3-millimeter lenses. Together with GPS location data from the attached phone, the headset provides information tailored for the current task or scenario.

A separate (but wired) circular controller that clips onto your jacket or shirt collar houses the battery, speaker, microphone, NFC, and touch sensor.