While you drive: Spotify testing first hardware, car smart assistant

SAN FRANCISCO: To help people enjoy audio while driving, Swedish music streaming giant Spotify is testing its first hardware – a voice-controlled smart assistant for cars called “Car Thing” – in the US.

“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,” Spotify said in a blog-post on Friday.

The device plugs into a vehicle’s 12-volt outlet for power and connects to both a person’s car and phone over Bluetooth.

The wake word for the device as planned is “Hey Spotify”, which, followed by a song request would allow users to access their playlists and listen to their favourite songs, The Verge reported.