Google Glass gets full on music integration

Explorers will be able to pull up millions of songs from All Access through voice command

As it gets closer to finally hitting the market, Google Glass is slowing coming along, adding new features and add-ons that serve to make it more intriguing and exciting. The device recently got a hardware update that included, among other things, a new ear bud. Now the company is revealing how it is going to be putting that new accessory to use.

The wearable device is about to get new set of features, focused solely on audio, it was revealed in a Google+ post on Tuesday.

Over the next few weeks, Google Glass Explorers, aka those people who are testing out the device before it hits the market, will get full access to the millions of songs on Google Play Music and All Access. 

All the user has to do is issue the following command: “Okay Glass, listen to” to pull up any artist. The device will also come with a Shazam-like service which allows users to ask Glass to identify songs playing nearby. All that is required is a command along the lines of "Glass, what song is this?"

Google is also introducing a new set of ear buds, which it says are "designed specifically for Glass."

“They’re lightweight and uniquely engineered to deliver crisp, full-range audio while still letting you hear your surroundings,” the company said. 

They come in five different colors: tangerine, black, light blue and grey.

“With these new features, we’re now building a great music experience on Glass, whether you’re a classical music professor, an acclaimed sound engineer and hip-hop producer, or someone who wants to listen to their favorite tunes anytime, anywhere,” Ed Sanders, the director of marketing for Google Glass, said in a statement to the New York Times, which first reported this story on Tuesday.

These are updates to the device that most of us could have probably guessed they would make. Google recently got into the music streaming game, and it no doubt wants to put that service to good use on its most talked about device. That does not make these new developments any less exciting, though. If I were ever to use Google Glass, and my weariness over it is, admittedly, starting to dissipate, this is certainly a feature I'd use regularly. 

In addition to the new music access, Glass was recently updated so that it would work with both sunglasses and prescription frames. 

Google gave its Explorers the option to swap out their old hardware, as long as they purchased their previous Glass device before October 28th.

The company also announced that it was going to expand the Explorer Program by allowing current members to invite three friends, who will then be able to buy Glass online and have it shipped to them. 

Other features that had previously been announced included YouTube intregration, which will allow users to upload their videos directly to YouTube, and the ability to take pictures with the device simply by winking.

For those not lucky enough to either be in the program, or know someone in it, Google Glass is expected to finally hit shelves sometimes in the spring of 2014.

(Image source: https://www.google.com)