Spotify Reportedly Working On Streaming Audio Hardware For Your Car
Spotify fans will be glad to hear that the streaming music giant is set to enter the hardware space with some sort of gadget for the car. Word is that the hardware device will launch on April 24, and the news comes after Spotify was seen posting job openings for "hardware production" workers.
Initially many thought that Spotify would be jumping into the smart speaker realm along with seemingly every other tech company. It's now looking like Spotify has something different in store for its gadget. The image you see above is said to have been seen by multiple Spotify users via a pop-up from the Spotify app. It appears to be some sort of smallish puck-like music player that mounts on the dash.
The assumption for the image is that the center portion is a touchscreen of some sort. There are buttons for randomizing your playlist and for what appears to be skipping back on a track. The popup that users claim to be seeing says that the device is included in the monthly fee for $12.99 per month with a year commitment. At least one person claims to have seen a monthly price of $14.99.
Users also claim to have seen different versions of the ad with some of the touting different features. One of the ads reportedly touts Amazon Alexa functionality and the other touts 4G LTE connectivity allowing the device to work without having to connect to your smartphone.
There are lots of questions about this device right now, like whether LTE data will be included with the device or if it's something that users will have to add to their existing cellular plan. Perhaps a slick hardware device provided with the monthly subscription fee is Spotify's plan to help turn some of the millions of people illegally listening to its premium service into paying subscribers.