Google is starting to distribute its new Internet-connected glasses, something seen as the next breakthrough in mobile computing.

Google has picked 8,000 people in the U.S. who entered a contest. The winners will have to pay $1,500 apiece for a test version of Google Glass. The company also took an unspecified number of orders from .

Google said Wednesday it started making the glasses available Tuesday, though it may take weeks for recipients to get them.

The excitement stems from a belief that Google Glass is at the forefront of a new wave of technology known as "wearable computing." Published reports say that Google, Apple Inc. and others also are working on Internet-connected wristwatches.

hopes to lower prices by the time it's on the mass market next year.