Wink for the camera: Google Glass users can now wink to take a photo

The new feature was announced part of the December update for the Glass

Google Glass will hit the shelves early next year (Getty Images)

Wearers of the Google Glass will now be able to take a photo just by winking, after a new update announced by Google.

The December update, which was outlined by a post on the Google+ social media site, includes a new feature that allows users to “quickly and easily capture the moments you care about with a simple wink of the eye.”

Such a feature had previously been available to Explorers (Google Glass testers) via an app called Winky, although Google is now seemingly looking to make winking to take photos a fundamental feature of the Glass.

As well as capturing in a photo the things users are seeing, Google envisages a range of other future uses: paying for a taxi, ordering a pair of shoes or accessing a cookbook recipe, all just by winking.

This latest update will inevitably concern Google Glass sceptics who are worried about the privacy infringements such a gadget might give rise to – something Google doesn’t seem to be troubled by.

Included in the December update are a number of other features, including a lock screen, Google Hangouts integration and the ability to upload videos taken by the Glass straight to YouTube.

The Google Glass is only available to Explorers currently, although they are expected to go on sale to the general public sometime in 2014.

If you are thinking of investing in a pair in the future, be sure to check out the definitive road-test first. And, speaking of roads, it’s probably not a good idea to wear the Google Glass while driving, as one woman found out.