The music platform Spotify has primarily focused on software, or yes, only is probably more accurate. But now they are breaking that pattern and launching their first hardware: Car Thing. If you are going to translate it into Swedish, it will probably simply be “Bilgrej”.
What then is Car Thing? Well, it’s a separate screen that connects to your phone and gives you a separate interface for Spotify. Car Thing is 11.6 centimeters wide, 6.3 centimeters high and 6 millimeters thick, except for a block on the back that is used to attach it to the three different holders that come with it.
Car Thing can be controlled either by voice, via the touch screen or a physical knob and six buttons. The rubberized surface should provide some shock protection but also make the unit easy to grip. For voice control, it has four microphones with noise reduction and according to Spotify, Car Thing should understand where you say even if you drive with loud music or have the window open.
For Car thing to work, you need a premium account with Spotify and one of the following options to connect it to your car, it is either via bluetooth, wifi, usb or aux. It is also compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. For it to work, you also need to connect it to a 12V socket because it has no built-in battery. As for the phone’s operating system, iOS 14 or Android 8 or later is required.
At first, Car Thing is only available in the US and Spotify says nothing about whether it will come to either Sweden or any other country or continent. One may well also question the need for a separate screen for Spotify only. It may feel more reasonable that if you want a loose screen in the car, you also want to be able to have navigation and other functions in it. But of course, it will be a little easier to control the app via the separate interface and if you do not have an existing screen in the car, or do not want any other functionality, this can be a good solution. The price is $ 79.99, but as I said, it is only available in the US market so far. And also in a limited edition.
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