Google is ending its experimental Google Glass program which enables developers to purchase the smart glasses unit for $1,500 (£990) and moving the unit in charge of Google Glass under the control of Nest CEO Tony Fadell.

The search giant has insisted it is still committed to launching the smart glasses as a consumer product, but will stop producing the Glass 1.0 model currently in circulation, instead focusing on more advanced models of the product.

From next week, the company will cease to take orders as part of the Google Glass Explorer program, and the Google X division, which the company uses to conduct blue sky research, will stop working on the product.

While current manager Ivy Ross will retain leadership of the Glass team, it will move under the aegis of Tony Fadell, chief executive of home automation Nest, which Google acquired a year ago.

According to the BBC, Fadell said the Glass project had “broken ground and allowed us to learn whats important to consumers and enterprises alike”, and that he was looking forward to working with the Glass team “to integrate those learnings into future products”.

Moving the Glass team from the companys experimental unit to the more commercially-focused Nest business may indicate the new Glass models will be closer to a general release, but many of those who signed up for the Explorer program are likely to be displeased to have the focus change, having paid out such a large sum for the hardware.