Pandora, one of the biggest names in the music streaming business with 70 million active monthly users, has just rolled out a new player designed to play nicely with TVs and video game consoles. The web app, which can be found at tv.pandora.com, uses HTML 5 to provide a more unified standard for devices that support it.
The "10-foot experience" is what Pandora is aiming for with the release of this new player. Essentially, this means it is focusing on people who are using the service on larger screens like TVs. It's a lot like Steam's focus on its Big Picture Mode, which sees bigger icons and an easier to navigate layout for non PC users.
A quick look at the HTML 5 player shows larger buttons, and bigger text for users to see the song playing no matter where in the room he or she is located. Like all Pandora apps, it features the ability to log in and get access to saved stations, and it also includes 500 curated genre stations for anyone who prefers not to set up their own.
Pandora already is available on more than more than 900 consumer electronics devices, but most of those are not HTML 5 standard compliant, so the new player will not work yet. The streaming music company has it working in the browser on Xbox 360, with plans to bring it to other consoles soon. As more HTML 5 compatible hardware hits the market, penetration of this streamer should move to plenty of devices rather quickly.