Spotify's "Car Thing" in-car infotainment system alternative is now expanding its waitlist to all users in the United States. Previously, Car Thing was available to a small number of users for free for those who were lucky enough to get an invite. Spotify's argument for rolling the device out in this way is that it is the company's first foray into hardware and that it wanted to "get things right."

Unlike before, where Spotify was giving away Car Thing for free, the company will be charging $79.99 going forward for anyone who wants one. The device relies on a connection to a smartphone, so users will need to either have music or podcasts downloaded locally or enough smartphone data to stream it all. It also has four user-customizable buttons on top that can be programmed to open up a specific podcast, album, or playlist.

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According to Spotify, any U.S. Spotify user — whether free or Premium — will be able to sign up for the waitlist. However, users will need to be Premium subscribers to use the device. Spotify did not specify a time window for when users should expect delivery of the Car Thing.

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Car Thing features a touch screen and access to a user's entire Spotify library, a volume knob on the top right to control volume, and support for hands-free control by saying "Hey Spotify." Car Thing also comes with multiple mounting clips, a USB-C to USB-A cable, and a car charger to keep the device powered. Essentially, think of Car Thing as Spotify's take on CarPlay or Android Auto. Of course, the major caveat here is that Car Thing can only control content within Spotify. Need to make a call, respond to a message, or navigate somewhere? Too bad. You'll need yet another device to do those things.

Overall, Spotify's Car Thing is an interesting gadget if CarPlay or Android Auto isn't an option. At the very least, it gives users a solid way to interact with the service while on the road. However, if CarPlay or Android Auto is available, an argument could be made that using either of those two interfaces is a much better option. As those interfaces not only features music control (from way more streaming services), but also direct access to a dialer, text messages, navigation, and much more.

Source: SpotifyTechCrunch

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