Since its introduction, Google Glass has
been in the unfortunate position of having relatively limited
functionality. However, with a steady stream of updates and eventually
the emergence of the Glassware tab in the MyGlass interface, we've known the elusive wearable was due for some more exciting things. A few weeks after announcing plans
to add Play Music to Glass, Google has quietly added it to the list of
apps supported on the elusive wearable. Alongside this release, the
Accessories store also launched the Stereo Earbuds at the hefty price of
$85.
Music can be activated by simply calling out 'Ok, Glass, Listen to'
followed by the name of an artist, playlist, album, or song. Assuming
your search goes well, a 'Live Card'
appears to the left of the central clock with the artist name, song
name, play time, and cover art as the background. If you tap while
viewing the card, you're presented with a basic list of commands: Pause,
Next, Previous, Radio, Stop, and Volume.
You'll continue to hear your music in the background even while
navigating through cards, and it won't interfere with the 'Ok, Glass'
hotword detection when you're on the clock screen. Should you remove
Glass from your head or begin a voice command, playback is automatically
paused until the command is completed or you've put the headset back
on.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of sticky issues that might be a
little annoying. For one, songs you've already played are placed in your
timeline, but there's no way to pick new songs or playlists without
going through a voice search. Unfortunately, this means you'll either
have to be prepared with playlists built elsewhere or rely on the Radio
command to get any sort of a queue going. The screen is also kept awake
during playback, rapidly eating away at the already short battery life.
Installation is a breeze. Just hit the Glassware
section, click on Google Play Music, and flip the switch to 'On'. If
you're anything like me, you might already have several devices
(including duplicates) activated with Play Music. If that's the case,
you'll just have to go through the Deauthorization Dance by removing a
device from the list in Music Settings. It should only take a couple of minutes for installation and authorization.
To get the best out of playing music from Glass, you might consider
splurging on some brand new stereo earbuds. At $85 for the custom pair,
they certainly aren't cheap; but it's about the only way to get lopsided
earphones that fit Glass's unique requirements. If you're in the
market, you can pick some up in the accessories store.
While Play Music is only the third Google app to make an appearance
as an installable after Field Trip and Google Now, it's a good choice.
It's not like Glass needed another way to eat up battery life, but this
is definitely a lot of fun to play with and feels like an incredibly
natural feature to have. Hopefully a few iterations will work out some
of the bugs and bring an expanded feature set, but this is a great
start. Keep it going Team Glass!
Source: MyGlass, Glass Store
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