The popular music streaming service has officially rolled out its first application for this wearable technology.
Explorers now have a brand new way to be able to listen to music over their Google Glass wearable tech, as Pandora has now rolled out its very first app that is designed specifically for use over these devices.
The Glass app gives users the ability to be able to control their stations through the use of voice command.
The Google Glass app first came to life as an internal hackathon project earlier in 2014 that was held by Pandora. The company found that the effort was so popular that it went ahead and turned it into an official application designed for the augmented reality headset. It provides users with the ability to be able to listen to music through the AR glasses in three separate ways. The first is with the ear bud that is provided in the Glass Explorer kit. The second is with the additional optional stereo ear bud gadget. And the third is with the guilt in speaker of the wearable tech, itself, which doesn’t require any additional accessories.
The Google Glass version of the app can be controlled either through the touchpad or voice command.
Pandora made a blog post to share the control methods, in which it said that “Our Glassware allows you to access your personalized radio stations from wherever you are, interacting with the service through voice command or by using the touchpad.”
Users can also either play existing stations or create new ones through the use of the new app. Among the voice commands that are available to them are those that allow them to choose or form new stations. However, the touchpad goes above and beyond that for allowing users to play, skip, or pause tracks, as well as to rate individual tracks using the thumbs up or thumbs down signs.
In order to download the app, owners of the device simply need to visit the Google Glass page, turn on Pandora, and then sign in. This is the second app that has been designed by Pandora for wearable devices. The first one was made specifically for the Pebble smartwatch, and it was rolled out earlier in 2014. That said, the company has been dropping hints to suggest that there may be more focus on wearables in the future.
Recent studies and reports are adding to a growing body of evidence that indicates that people aren’t wild about wearables, yet.
Wearable tech may be one of the fastest growing mobile device categories, but at the moment, the popularity appears to be notably greater among the companies actually developing these gadgets than among consumers who are buying them.
Not only are people not necessarily buying wearables as fast as they’re being produced, but they’re judging those who do.
Some wearable tech has a better reputation than other forms. For example, fitness trackers seem to have been broadly accepted by consumers, as a whole, but at the same time, there are other forms that are bringing about far less love. For example, while spotting a smartwatch on someone’s wrist may generate a great deal of interest and conversation, at the moment, Google Glass and other augmented reality headsets seem to label a wearer as someone much less likeable.
The opinion that consumers have about wearable tech doesn’t seem to have anything to do with its usefulness.
To go back to the Google Glass example, an owner of these wearable devices can take advantage of a very high quality gadget that can be operated by voice command and that brings many of the features that can be found on a smartphone into a hands-free environment. However, despite the fact that it is very handy, people who use the device have been labeled “Glassholes” and are essentially thought of as people who are trying to declare their own self-worth by throwing their money into the latest technology.
A digital research firm called L2 recently released a report that pointed out that while 75 percent of consumers are aware of what wearable tech actually is, only 9 percent have any desire to actually purchase and own one. Even smaller is the 2 percent group that actually owns one of these mobile devices. The report showed that among those who were surveyed, 52 percent felt that the best location for wearables to be worn is on the wrist. Twenty four percent said that some place on the arm was best, and only 5 percent felt that headbands or other head-mounted displays were ideal – even in the form of eyeglasses or contact lenses. Clearly, the design of these products has a long way to go before consumers accept them – and their wearers – more broadly.
