Spotify is about to start the testing of its first hardware device i.e, smart assistant for cars named as “Car Thing”. The purpose of the device is to learn more about the type of music while people drive.
Spotify has announced this in a blog post
Americans spend 70 billion hours behind the wheel each year. That’s a lot of time spent on the road. So what you do—and what you listen to—to help you get through those long hours in the car matters. That’s why Spotify is trying to learn more about people’s listening habits and preferences to help create an unparalleled experience for our users.
As per the image released by Spotify, this is a simple device with a circular screen and a series of buttons that can be used to access the playlist.
The smart assistant plugs into a vehicle’s 12-volt outlet (aka a cigarette lighter) for power and connects to both a person’s car and phone over Bluetooth. The device can be activated by saying, “Hey, Spotify,” followed by a request for whatever the person wants to hear. It’ll be linked to a user’s Spotify account so they can access their playlists.
The device is only for the US customers and Spotify will begin testing in a few weeks with some premium customers.
Spotify has also given a hint of its future plan about Voice assistant and Home assistant as “Voice Thing” and “Home Thing” and once launched users should not be surprised of it. These are not the actual devices for now but the learnings from the current test will redirect the Spotify to develop experience on how users listen to the music as various places.
Major tech companies as trying to be in car assistant area. In September, Amazon introduced the Echo Auto, a device that brings the Alexa smart assistant into a vehicle. Also, Google just announced a driving mode for its Google Assistant. Both Google and Apple also have software that can replace the interface of a car’s infotainment system.
About Spotify
Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming platform that provides DRM-protected music and podcasts from record labels and media companies. As a freemium service, basic features are free with advertisements or automatic music videos, while additional features, such as improved streaming quality, are offered via paid subscriptions.
Launched by Spotify AB on 7 October 2008, Spotify provides access to over forty million tracks[6]. Users can browse by parameters such as artist, album, or genre, and can create, edit, and share playlists. Spotify is available in most of Europe and the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Africa and Asia, and on most modern devices, including Windows, macOS, and Linux computers, and iOS, Windows Phone, and Android smartphones and tablets. As of April 2019, it had 217 million monthly active users, including 100 million paying subscribers.
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