The company first began its experiments with Car Thing to learn more about how Spotify users engaged with its service in the vehicle. The device itself works with USB, Bluetooth and Aux.
The now $89.99 device - a $10 increase from its limited public release in October - is largely targeted toward vehicle owners who don’t have a built-in infotainment system offering easy access to Spotify, like Apple’s CarPlay or Android Auto.Ĭar Thing connects with the Spotify mobile app on your phone, then uses the phone’s cellular signal (or Wi-Fi, if available) to stream your music or podcasts over the car’s sound system. However, the music streaming giant’s more general shift towards audiobook and podcast content continues to grow its free and paid listener bases – and casting off the dead weight of Car Thing will likely allow Spotify to amp up focus on the products it actually specializes in (read: audio software, not audio hardware).įor more Spotify-related news, check out our reports on the company’s expansion of a popular social feature, its new Supergrouper playlist tool, and its under-the-radar karaoke mode.Spotify’s oddly named in-car entertainment system, “ Car Thing,” is now available to the general public after initial tests that began in 2019. In its aforementioned investor report, Spotify said the decision to call time on Car Thing cost the company €31 million (around $32 million). Support for Car Thing is unlikely to persist for much longer, though, so we’d only suggest picking one up if you’re an avid collector of, well, weird Spotify stuff. Spotify is still selling remaining Car Thing stock through its official website (opens in new tab) (for almost half price, too), and the company has said that “existing devices will perform as intended” (per TechCrunch (opens in new tab)).
What’s more, owners of so-called older vehicles who do want to listen to Spotify on the move are, in all likelihood, just as happy to mount their phones and use Bluetooth or an aux cable as they are buying a cheaper, third-party media player that functions in exactly the same way as Car Thing.Įssentially, then, Car Thing is dead because Spotify never really cracked who the product was for – but those who do still fancy buying one need not fear.
0 kommentar(er)
