Spotify Announces New ‘Car Thing’ Device To Bring Music Streaming To Your Vehicle
Spotify has announced that the “Car Thing experiment,” which it’s been working on for the past year, will become an official product that will ship to selected Spotify Premium customers who sign up!
Yes that’s right, Car Thing is the official name of this device, and it works by “syncing up with your car’s stereo system, either via Bluetooth or with an included 3.5mm aux cable. The idea is that Car Thing will work with all older cars that don’t use CarPlay or Android Auto, and still rely on older head units for their audio,” according to Tech Radar Magazine.
Car Thing essentially looks like a smart phone that attaches to your car vent. Once synced to your car, the screen will display your favorite music, podcasts, playlists, and trending content on Spotify; essentially it shows you what appears on your “Home” screen when you log onto the Spotify app on your phone.
All of your music library can be selected using touch controls, or a dial which is appropriately located in the upper right corner of the screen. There are also four quick select buttons on the top of the device to easily assist with skipping songs, pausing, or stopping music all together.
Additionally, Spotify included a built-in voice assistant that can be used to control your music hands-free while your driving. You simply say “Hey Spotify” and you can change your playlist, pause your music, and so much more.
“The player is expected to cost $79.99 (around £60, AU$100) when it’s available to the public, but Spotify will make it available for just $6.99 (the shipping cost in the US) for Spotify Premium subscribers who sign up on Spotify’s website to get one during the limited window,” according to reports.
As of right now Spotify announced that Car Thing is only available for US customers, and the company has yet to reveal if it would become available internationally or not. Spotify made the official Car Thing announcement on their blog this month, in which they emphasized that the reasoning they created this product was to assist the Spotify users who complained that they couldn’t get Spotify in their older cars.
“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 personalized in-car listening experience.
“No matter the year or model of your vehicle, we feel everyone should have a superior listening experience.”
If you have an older model car, there are also already a multitude of devices on the market that can either plug into your car’s auxiliary cable, cassette player, or car lighter, depending on how old your vehicle is. These devices sync up with your phone’s audio via Bluetooth or direct connection.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.