Music streaming giant Spotify is known for its software-powered streaming business but the company has long been planning to delve into releasing related hardware. The first hardware that the US company will release is an in-car entertainment system dubbed Car Thing.

The Spotify Car Thing had earlier this month appeared in certain codes in Apple’s iOS and was even first tested as far back as 2019 but wasn’t released. The company has now taken the wraps off the device, at least for the US market and it is targeted at Spotify Premium subscribers. The device will be available free of charge for its Premium subscribers including shipping.

The Car Thing sports a touchscreen display which should be an LCD panel. There is also a large knob that can easily be gripped and it is used for navigation. It equally features four buttons at the top preset to activate favorite music, Podcasts, playlists functions. Users may decide to change the buttons as desired. The smart device also comes with voice control capabilities.

The Car Thing is designed for cars that don’t have modern in-car infotainment systems like Apple CarPlay or Android Auto installed. The device has a dimension of 4.6 x 2.5 x 0.7 inches and weighs 3.4oz (96g). The device can be set up to connect wirelessly via Bluetooth or through an AUX or USB cable but it has to be connected to the car stereo system.

Spotify Car Thing carries a retail price of $80 but the company is yet to set a timeline when it will be on sale. Sadly, it will only be available to U.S. Spotify Premium subscribers and will be based on an invite-only basis through carthing.spotify.com. We expect the available units to be limited.

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The Spotify Car Thing device has surfaced online again. This time the voice controlled gadget has appeared in certain codes in Apple’s iOS. New images of the iOS codes that featured Car Thing had been shared online on Twitter by Steve Moser.

I imagine the knob on Spotify’s Car Thing is for volume and it looks like your phone connects to both Car Thing and your car’s audio via BT. I wonder if Car Thing could show directions as well. pic.twitter.com/1pDq1HMFwI

— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) April 2, 2021

For those unaware, the popular music streaming platform had first announced the Car Thing back in 2019. The device is a “voice-controlled music and podcast device” as the company described it and even added specifically that it would “focus remains on becoming the world’s number one audio platform—not on creating hardware,” as per a Gizmodo report. Now, the images shared by Steve Moser on Twitter, which showcase the iOS code for Car Thing.These images depict a horizontally oriented smartphone like display with a known on the right side, along with buttons.

Notably, this looks quite similar to a FCC filing that had been spotted previously, although, the company has tinkered with the design of the upcoming product by looking at the initial mockups in comparison to the recent FCC filings. In a confidentiality filing, the company also stated that “spent substantial effort in developing this product and it is one of the first of its kind in the industry. Having the subject information easily available to ‘competition’ would negate the advantage they have achieved by developing this product. Not protecting the details of the design will result in financial hardship.”

Back in 2019, the product was even tested by a “small group” of premium Spotify users that were invited to participate. The company stated that the device was developed to “to help us learn more about how people listen to music and podcasts.” Unfortunately, it is still too early to know for sure, so stay tuned for more as we will be providing updates when additional information is available.

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The post Spotify Car Thing voice controlled device spotted in Apple iOS code appeared first on Gizmochina.