‘Car Thing’ is Spotify’s first dip into hardware and it’s available for free to Spotify Premium users

The mega music-streaming platform Spotify has decided to branch out with a recent announcement. The company announced earlier today that it would be releasing its first piece of hardware on a limited basis in the United States. The “Car Thing” is an all-encompassing streaming device for your car that is designed to work with the company’s incredibly popular streaming platform.

The Car Thing has been in development since 2019 and is designed specifically for users on the go. The device allows users to easily navigate through different music or podcasts on the Spotify app, with several different ways of interaction. Users can use the Car Thing with voice commands by using the app’s “Hey Spotify” command. If that’s not your thing, there’s also a knob like the ones found on car radios as well as a simple touch screen interface that can be easily navigated.

Spotify has assured that it has not varied from its mission to maintain itself as the world’s best music streaming platform. In the announcement mentioned above, Spotify wanted to ensure users that its streaming platform was still the number one priority:

“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.”

Spotify’s Car Thing is a very lightweight and minimal device that can mount directly to your car’s vents. It comes with a USB-C car charger for power and can be connected to your car via Bluetooth or with an AUX or USB cable. It is being rolled out now on a request-only basis.

The device is available for free to Spotify Premium subscribers who request a device here. There is no word on if or when this product will see a full launch, so for now you’ll need to sign-up if you want a chance at the new Spotify Car Thing.

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