SPOTIFY CAR THING ANDROID
Meanwhile, Apple and Google both have software designed to be installed on those systems by manufacturers – CarPlay and Android Auto respectively – which work with people’s smartphones and their music streaming apps. Spotify’s execs declined to say how many units they are making available for the US launch, and the company is not revealing any of its plans for international distribution yet.Ĭompetitors? There aren’t that many smart speakers designed specifically for in-car use, but standard in-car entertainment systems have one or more ways to connect smartphones to play music: from line-in ports to Bluetooth. “This is something that we know quite a few people will ask for, so this is something that will evolve over time,” said Spotify’s head of hardware products Andreas Cedborg at the event.
SPOTIFY CAR THING OFFLINE
It comes with a choice of three mounts to fix the device in place depending on the driver’s car, and can pair with multiple Spotify subscribers’ smartphones to play music and podcasts – for example a family travelling together.Ĭertain content – playlists for example – can be set as ‘presets’ for Car Thing, which automatically downloads them for offline use to save on mobile data costs. In an online press event yesterday, Car Thing’s marketing lead Sara Kayden talked about data showing that cars are the second most popular location for listening to audio in the US, but stressed that the device is intended to complement existing in-car entertainment systems rather than to replace them. It also has a touchscreen display and a big, radio-style knob to navigate between music and podcasts. The device uses Spotify’s new ‘Hey Spotify’ voice controls, which recently launched for the streaming service’s smartphone app. Well, we say on sale…Ĭar Thing is getting a limited release in the US on an invitation-only basis for some Spotify subscribers, and they’ll only have to pay shipping costs to get one. The streaming service first talked about it in May 2019, when it began testing the in-car device with some American users.Ī recent filing with the US Federal Communications Commission revealed how the device was evolving, but today it’s going on sale.
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Spotify has been working on its ‘Car Thing’ smart speaker for some time now. In April 2021 Spotify blogged: “Our focus remains on becoming the world’s number one audio platform – not on creating hardware – but we developed Car Thing because we saw a need from our users, many of whom were missing out on a seamless and personalised in-car listening experience.Tags: Car Thing cars Smart speakers Spotify More recently, headphones from Samsung, Bose, Microsoft, Skullcandy and Jabra include Spotify Tap, where users tap on their headphones to continue playing the audio track they last listened to. In September Philips Hue’s new line of smart light bulbs, strips and lamps could be synced to Spotify playlists to change colour, brighten or dim along with the beat of a track being played. So instead it’s been working with gadget-maker companies. There were rumours about MP3 players and Ek himself talked about musical lightbulbs.īut it seems that Spotify realised it was stretching itself too thin, and needed to focus on podcasts and music, and its forecast of reaching 400 million global users by 2021’s end. In job ads for hardware product managers located in its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, it described the hardware as “a category-defining product akin to Pebble Watch, Amazon Echo, and Snap Spectacles” and working within the voice space. Users have the option of a touchscreen or a physical dial that scrolls menus and makes a selection.Ĭar Thing was initially offered to select Premium subscribers in April before being “launched” in mid-October on a limited basis.Īt this point it’s only available to US subscribers until the chip supply is resolved.įive years ago, Spotify was signalling plans to move into making its own hardware devices. “We just can’t make enough to get them out there to consumers”.Ĭar Thing, which costs $110 in Australia, is especially convenient for users to navigate Spotify in cars with no, or older, infotainment systems.ĭrivers with a smartphone with a wi-fi or mobile data connection can turn on tracks, podcasts, albums or playlists inside Spotify’s library with a “Hey Spotify” command. “The #1 constraint for us at this particular moment… is chip shortages,” admitted Spotify CEO Daniel Ek. It didn’t expect 2 million to rush to sign on. Last month Spotify invited its premium privileged to go on its waiting list. The in-car entertainment device is the streaming/audio company’s first legit hardware, and it’s already struggling to cope. Those Australian Spotify Premium subscribers waiting to use Spotify Car Thing have to hit pause a bit longer.