In its blog post announcing the "limited release" of Car Thing, Spotify described the device as a "smart player that fills your car with music, news, entertainment, talk, and more". The device itself features a physical dial on the front along with a 4-inch touchscreen, plus four microphones at the top and four preset buttons for controls. You can control your car's audio through Car Thing using either "Hey Spotify" commands or the device's dial, screen, and preset buttons. You can choose to set up the device to work via Bluetooth or an AUX or USB cable, depending on how you usually connect your phone to your car stereo to play music. Mounted on a dashboard, Car Thing will rely on voice controls with users allowed to say "Hey Spotify" to wake up the device and then ask for a podcast, song, album, artist, or playlist.
Designers have installed four microphones on the top to help make it easier for Car Play to understand what users are asking for, even with the music turned up or your windows down. It also includes a touch screen display that shows what is in a user's library as well as their voice search results. And it has four preset buttons like traditional car radios to help users get more quickly to their favorite content choices. "No matter the year or model of your vehicle, we feel everyone should have a superior listening experience," the company saidin the announcement. The Spotify Car Thing offers voice control for easy access, a touchscreen display, four preset buttons, and physical dial for hands-on control.
The latter also lets you select, browse, play, pause, or discover new audio content on the Car Thing. It's only a limited release so there is that certain feel of exclusivity. The Car Thing is just the latest eye-catching move by Spotify amid a recent flurry. The general release of the voice assistant wake word is almost certainly connected to plans for the Car Thing, but the streaming platform has larger ambitions. Spotify's new patent for AI that can suggest songs based on vocal emotion detection by Spotify's speech recognition engine has obvious benefits for people listening to music in the car.
Spotify's new social audio plans after acquiring Locker Room parent company Betty Labs would also benefit. "We developed Car Thing because we saw a need from our users, many of whom were missing out on a seamless and personalized in-car listening experience," the firm said. The final product looksmuchdifferent from its previous iterations, featuring a rectangular body with a touchscreen display, four preset buttons, a rotating navigation dial, and buttons to go back and mute/open settings. The display measures at 4-inches, the whole thing is 4.6-inches long and 0.7-inches wide, and it needs to be connected to a car via Bluetooth, a USB outlet, or AUX cable to sync up with the vehicle's speakers.
Spotify says Car Thing also needs to be connected to the user's phone via Bluetooth to actually power the Spotify interface that it shows . Once everything is all set up and ready to go, Car Thing makes it easier and safer to use Spotify while behind the wheel. In addition to controlling music playback via the touchscreen and buttons, there are also built-in microphones that allow for 'Hey Spotify' voice commands. While the Car Thing is currently a limited product launch, Spotify said it would be giving away the normally-$80 device for free to select Spotify listeners, who will only pay for shipping. The Car Thing has a 4-inch touchscreen display that shows the user's Spotify premium account's library and can easily be used to navigate between playlists and podcasts.
But if a touchscreen is a problem, the designers have included a small dial that can navigate the menus. The device also features a back button and allows for four quick navigate preset buttons. But if all these buttons don't suit the user, then Spotify has created a voice command system. Spotify has experimented with releasing hardware based around its music streaming service, but none of its devices ever saw a wide release. This time around, the company has announced 'Car Thing,' a touchscreen panel for your car that plays Spotify and nothing else.
Car Thing, the hardware device designed by Spotify to bring streaming audio into the dashboard, has been released on a limited basis after nearlytwo years of development. The company said it would make Car Thing available to "eligible users" in the U.S. Spotify says Car Thing's limited release is not meant to compete with in-car infotainment systems. Instead, the streamer says it is part of its strategy to create a "frictionless audio experience" for users, wherever they are and however they choose to listen. While a driver can still manipulate the device via its touch screen, physical controls are paramount to the Car Thing's design. The small display sensibly makes use of analog controls, including a large physical dial to steer through the menus.
There are also four well-placed physical buttons on the top of Car Thing meant to be used like radio presets, providing quick access to someone's favorite music, playlists, and stations. This kind of device interaction is often overlooked in the era of touch—our phones, computers, and many other everyday objects are controlled by simply pressing the screen. But giving a person a knob is a smart idea when the gizmo is intended for use in a car . Car Thing users can browse podcasts, playlists, stations, and albums using voice commands, a touch screen, or an analog dial. There are also four buttons on top that allow for easy access to four presets.
It's basically like playing music through a phone's Spotify app but using a dedicated hands-free interface instead. The Car Thing mounts up to a vehicle's dashboard and plugs into a 12-volt power outlet. To use the device, customers pair their phone to the Car Thing and to their car's audio system. The idea, according to Spotify, is to give users a "seamless" listening experience "no matter the year or model of your vehicle." In a press release about Car Thing, Spotify explains that it's not trying to compete with existing infotainment systems.
Instead, the company's goal with Car Thing is to offer a frictionless audio experience for users. Considering Car Thing doesn't offer any functionality beyond access to playing music and podcasts through Spotify, I have my doubts it will compete with other systems like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay anyway. One thing that Spotify might accomplish with Car Thing, however, is getting users who default to the radio to switch to Spotify instead. It's clearly making a play for the space with its Your Daily Drive playlist, which updates daily with music and spoken word content, as well as its push into podcasts. I default to the radio often because it's the easiest thing to put on.
Car Thing, if I keep it in my car, would admittedly change that and give Spotify more of my listening time, and that's likely all Spotify wants. Car Thing is 4.6 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall, with a touchscreen measuring 4 inches diagonally. There are four preset buttons on the top, which can be set to launch specific playlists, podcasts, or other content. Besides the touch screen, most functions can be controlled through the side dial.
Car Thing connects to your car using Bluetooth or the 3.5mm jack. Car Thing, the hardware device designed by Spotify to bring streaming audio into the dashboard, has been released on a limited basis after nearly two years of development. The device is compact and comes with a dial, touch screen and preset buttons.
It can be connected to a vehicle's sound system with an aux or USB jack or wirelessly with Bluetooth. It has an in-app voice assistant that lets users boss it around ("Come on Car Thing, play Air Supply!"). Spotify says there are over 70 million user-generated driving-related playlists on its platform and Car Thing offers a dedicated way to experience music, news, entertainment, and more.
"We developed Car Thing because we saw a need from our users, many of whom were missing out on a seamless and personalized in-car listening experience," the company said in a press release. Once configured, just say "Hey Spotify" and ask for a song, album, artist, playlist, station, or podcast. If you're stopped at a red light or in park, try using the 4-inch touch screen or dial to browse, select, play, pause, and discover content; four preset buttons along the top also act as easy shortcuts.
If you're stopped at a red light or in park, try using the four-inch touch screen or dial to browse, select, play, pause, and discover content; four preset buttons along the top also act as easy shortcuts. Car Thing, a Spotify-only, voice-controlled device for the car, is launching today in limited quantities to invited users. It's a dedicated, Bluetooth-connected device for controlling Spotify without the need for a phone screen, which seems to be meant for people who drive older cars without built-in infotainment systems or phone connections. Spotify says it's opting for a limited release because its primary focus is still the music streaming service itself, and it doesn't want to be seen as a hardware company. Fair enough, but it's unclear how many Car Things are actually available or whether Spotify plans to release more in the future.
Spotify has decided to go for a limited launch for Car Thing that is exclusive to the US and is available on an invite-only basis. The device itself is free-of-cost for a limited time but customers will have to pay for shipping. The anticipated retail price for Car Thing is $79.99 (roughly Rs. 6,000). Customers on free trial of Premium will have to forfeit their remaining trial period to buy Car Thing. Much like many car infotainment systems, Car Thing is interactive, allowing you to view and navigate your Spotify library using the touch screen and to view results from voice search. The device uses Spotify's new 'Hey Spotify' voice controls, which recently launched for the streaming service's smartphone app.
It also has a touchscreen display and a big, radio-style knob to navigate between music and podcasts. The company told us that beyond the voice data, the device isn't collecting any more information than it does already in the mobile app. Still, Car Thing does give Spotify a more direct window into what people listen to during commutes and longer road trips, which could inform its future products, programmed playlists and other features.
The company explained its interest in Car Thing is about solving a need for customers who want a "more seamless" and personalized in-car listening experience. Although many cars today support Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, Spotify points out that the average age of a car in the U.S. is actually 11 years old and the average lifetime of cars is 18 years. That means there are still a large number of cars on the road that don't support modern, in-car infotainment systems. If you can play music from your phone on your car stereo today, then Car Thing will work using a USB outlet, Bluetooth and AUX. Car Thing connects to the Spotify app on your smartphone and uses the mobile data or Wi-Fi connection from your smartphone to work. Four preset buttons line the top edge for quick access to playlists, albums and podcasts.
These can be set with a press and hold or by asking the on-board voice assistant to do it for you. You can either press the appropriate button or make the request with your voice. When you save a podcast, Car Thing will automatically play the most recent episode when you tap the preset button or ask for it to be played. Four microphones are positioned beside the preset buttons to hear those commands when the music is blasting or you have the windows rolled down. There's also a Settings button on the far right of the top that gives you access to a very limited menu.
One handy tool it does offer is the ability to disable the microphones. I guess it depends on how comfortable people are with a Spotify-owned microphone in their cars and whether they think the device offers a more meaningful experience than their built-in infotainment systems. Because my car is older, it did provide a hands-free interface for music while also adding another screen to my setup.
But I also feel uneasy about a Spotify microphone being within earshot of all my conversations. The privacy page mostly details the company's interactive voice ads, which I have yet to come across. CarYour car should have access to play audio on its speakers via Bluetooth, or AUX, or USB cable.It is available at no cost for users.
You will only have to pay for the shipping charge, which is still affordable. Once the company goes public with the launch, it will be priced at $79.99. The Car Thing will start with a limited release, which means that only a select Spotify premium users will be invited to receive one.
Users can add themselves to a waitlist, and if selected, they'll only be charged for shipping. Later, if Spotify determines that it wants to fully release the Car Thing, the streaming service indicated it will charge about $80 for it. Spotify today introduced the Car Thing, giving the streaming service its own hardware for the first time. The Car Thing—which, in essence, aptly describes what it is—acts as a sort of remote for the Spotify app while your phone streams Spotify content to your car. Cars with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto capability don't need this, but people whose vehicles don't have a robust infotainment system will appreciate it.
Spotify is looking to provide a product for customers who want a "more seamless" and personalized in-car listening experience, especially in the large number of cars that do not support modern in-car infotainment systems. You can use voice controls with the phrase "Hey Spotify" and ask Car Thing to play a song, album, artist, playlist, station, or podcast. The dial can also be used to navigate, play/ pause, and select, or you can simply use the touchscreen. Car Thing also allows you to make or receive calls, use navigation, get notifications, and more while your phone is connected. Spotify Car Thing, a new smart accessory with a display for your car, has been unveiled by the popular music streaming platform. It lets you listen to everything available on Spotify without having to use your phone.
Car Thing can also respond to voice commands that can be triggered with "Hey Spotify" and can be controlled with touch gestures or by using the large dial on the front. Whether your road trip soundtracks consist of music, news, entertainment, or talk, Spotify's Car Thing has you covered. The new smart player, currently available to select users in the U.S., puts your audio library just a voice command, tap, turn, or swipe away. The new smart player, currently available to select users in the US, puts your audio library just a voice command, tap, turn, or swipe away. Car Thing acts as a remote for streaming your Spotify content from your smartphone while in your car. The device is a smart player for your car that allows you to listen to your music, podcasts, and more.Spotify announced the launch of Car Thingon April 13, 2021.
And right now, the streaming service is offering U.S. users the chance to get one for free (besides $6.99 for shipping) through the website carthing.spotify.com. After dominating the world of music streaming,Spotifyis now launching its first hardware release with Car Thing — an accessory that allows users to safely control their Spotify listening while in the car. Car Thing is an odd device designed with a very specific use case in mind, but for regular Spotify users that spend a lot of time on the road, it looks to have a lot of potential. As for the hardware itself, Car Thing pairs with a phone over Bluetooth.
It needs this phone for a data connection, so yes, users will require a decent amount of data to stream. In a press briefing, Spotify noted that right now, there's no way for users to pull only from their downloaded content, although that functionality could come in the future. Depending on a car's connectivity, users can either rely on an auxiliary cable for sound or keep their phone paired to their car's Bluetooth to play audio content over the speakers.
The Car Thing doesn't have a speaker itself, and it's basically controlling the Spotify app on your phone. Spotify firstconfirmed in May 2019that it was developing an in-vehicle entertainment device. At the time it said it was only being developed to test how consumers were using Spotify. "Car Thing was developed to help us learn more about how people listen to music and podcasts. Our focus remains on becoming the world's number one audio platform – not on creating hardware," it said.
Now with its release, Spotify is taking on Apple in not just the distribution of content but also making its device a cheaper alternative to Apple CarPlay. Initially available for select US users, the new gadget's anticipated retail price is $79.99, but is available at no cost for a limited time for those select users, with SPOT only charging $6.99 postage. Music streaming service Spotify is making music listening hardware and its first official product release is a smart device for the car called the Car Thing. Spotify Car Thing is a remote-like gadget that will let you stream music from your smartphone while you are in your car. Announced on April 13, 2021, Spotify Car Thing is a smart player that lets you play music, podcasts, news, and more and works with any car you own. Users can control their audio with "Hey Spotify" commands, the physical dial, the touch screen, and four preset buttons on the top of the compact device that has a 4-inch screen.
Spotify sends users multiple car mounts for the Car Thing, including one which can just stick onto a dashboard, or others that use vents or a CD slot, to make the screen viewable to the driver. A phone with a mobile data connection is needed in order to operate the Car Thing, but the interface allows users to see which content has been downloaded, in case users want to conserve data use. Car Thing is currently only available to US users and will require a Spotify Premium account and a smartphone with WiFi or mobile data connection to connect.
