Car Thing comprises of a circular screen on one side displaying songs which are played and a series of buttons to access playlist preset on the other side. (image- Maxwell Thorpe via Facebook)Music streaming giant Spotify is testing a voice-controlled smart assistant for cars to help people enjoy audio while driving in the US, the Economic Times reports. The Swedish company has termed the first hardware device in its development as “Car Thing”.
In a blog-post on 17 May, Spotify said, “While we know there has been some speculation about our future plans, ‘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.”
The device would plug into a vehicle’s 12-volt outlet for power and connect to both- a person’s car and their phone over Bluetooth. Users would need to say “Hey Spotify” and then request their favourite playlist or songs, the Verge reports.
The report reveals the “Car Thing” design. It comprises of a circular screen on one side displaying songs which are played and a series of buttons to access playlist preset on the other side.
Spotify would test the device to a small group of people, and a few of the premium users would receive the tool for free.
“We don’t have any current plans to make this specific device available to consumers, but the learnings from our test will dictate how we develop experiences everywhere you listen,” Spotify added in the blog-post.
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