Music streaming giant Spotify has made its first foray into the world of audio gear with a new device built for listening on the road. Simply called "Car Thing," this first piece of hardware isn't intended for consumers, but is designed to help the company understand its users' listening habits when behind the wheel.
Rather than an actual product release, the voice-controlled Car Thing device will be offered to a select group of US Spotify Premium users. These folks will install the device in their vehicles to take part in a testing phase, through which Spotify hopes to learn more about how people listen to music and podcasts via voice activation in the car, in order to develop a better product.
The company says it might expand this kind of testing to other areas of its users' lives, flagging the possibility of a "Voice Thing" or "Home Thing," but does emphasize that refining its audio platform is its number one priority.
"Our focus remains on becoming the world's number one audio platform, not on creating hardware," reads a blog post accompanying the announcement.
Source: Spotify
