Google in talks with Warby Parker for its glasses [video chat]

Wanting to avoid making users look ridiculous, Google is seeking the help of an e-commerce start-up that sells trendy glasses to design Glass, the Silicon Valley company’s upcoming smartphone-like glasses.

Google is in talks with Warby Parker to help it “design more fashionable frames” for Glass, according to a New York Times report Thursday that cites unnamed sources.

News of the Warby Parker relationship to Glass comes a day after Google opened a competition to select the first people who can buy the smart-glasses. Users can apply over Twitter or Google+ with a 50-words-or-less essay explaining what they would do with Glass.

Join us for a live video chat at 1 p.m.

Google will select about 8,000 winners, who must then fly to either Los Angeles, San Francisco or New York to pay $1,500 plus taxes and pick up their devices.

Besides Google’s relationship with Warby Parker, the New York Times reports that although Glass frames don’t come with lenses, Google is trying out adding sunglasses or prescription lenses to some units.

The New York Times report also says Glass frames weigh less than a typical pair of sunglasses, despite earlier versions of the device weighing eight pounds just 18 months ago.

Google declined to comment.

Join us for a live video chat at 1 p.m. on wearable technology. Google and other companies are working on augmented-reality eyeglasses, talking wristwatches and coats that adjust to the weather. Click here to read today’s story on wearable tech.

ALSO:

Apple stock falls following Foxconn hiring freeze

Pinterest secures $200 million, pushing value to $2.5 billion

Google developing touch-screen Chrome OS laptops, report says