Pandora launches TV / console-friendly HTML5 site
With 70 million active monthly users, we suspect the world isn't desperately searching for another way to listen to Pandora. That said, we certainly can't fault the internet radio provider for attempting to optimize the experience for as many platforms as possible. The latest push comes in the form of tv.pandora.com, a service the company claims is optimized for that proverbial "10-foot experience." The HTML5-based site plays nicely with your Xbox 360 at the moment, and Pandora says that it'll be coming to further TVs, set top boxes and consoles in the months to come. tv.pandora.com has a simplified navigation system, play, pause, skip and thumbs up and down functionality and 500 curated stations to get you started. You can check the site out today, or peep a press release on the matter after the break.
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Pandora Launches Next Generation TV Experience for Music Entertainment in the Living Room
Building on its success in the connected device space, Pandora (NYSE: P), the leading internet radio service, today unveiled tv.pandora.com, the company's next generation experience for the TV and latest innovation in delivering the best personalized radio to millions of listeners in their living rooms. Having launched on a single connected Blu-ray player in 2008, Pandora is now available through more than 1,000 partner integrations including more than 900 consumer electronics devices, ranging from smart TVs to streaming media players and home stereo systems. More than 10 million people have enjoyed Pandora through an internet connected TV or set top box alone.
Optimized for a 10-foot experience, tv.pandora.com is standards-based and embraces next generation TV, game console and set top box architectures that support open web standards. Today, tv.pandora.com runs perfectly from the browser on existing Xbox 360® game consoles and the system will spread to other TV's, game consoles and set top boxes as more vendors bring standards-compliant devices to market in the coming months. The new experience features easy navigation with controls and displays designed specifically for the big screen and users can easily log on to Pandora to enjoy their personalized radio stations, create new ones and browse more than 500 curated genre stations. Pandora's functionality including play, pause, skip and the ability to thumb-up and thumb-down tracks is easily accessible through the designated controller.
Pandora Chief Technology Officer and EVP of Product, Tom Conrad said, "Our mission is to provide the best personalized radio experience to our listeners in any context on any connected device. Since tv.pandora.com is standards-based, it will allow us to quickly evolve and enhance the 10-foot experience of Pandora with greater flexibility and speed than ever before. By using this platform, we can deliver a uniform experience across any standards-compliant TV's, game consoles, or set top boxes and focus our efforts on end user benefits and innovation rather than platform specific details."
More than one-third of radio listening takes place in the home and the ability to seamlessly deliver access to Pandora on any web-enabled TV or TV-connected device demonstrates the company's increased investment in listeners who are enjoying personalized radio in their living room. The company is currently working with its deep roster of partners to bring the tv.pandora.com experience to more TV-connected devices in the future.
More details are available at tv.pandora.com and on the Pandora company blog at blog.pandora.com.
