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Add to queue – One of our most requested features-the ability to queue additional songs and podcasts-is also now available.Easily switch back to Spotify by using presets, or voice, or simply tapping the screen. Control other media – You can now play and control other media on the Car Thing device.Answer phone calls seamlessly – You can now see, answer, and dismiss incoming calls via Car Thing.Car Thing also connects to and now mirrors your phone, giving you access to more functionality. With these updates, you’ll now be able to answer phone calls on Car Thing, queue songs and podcasts, and display and control other media. Car Thing makes it simpler to play exactly what you want, thanks to the intuitive product interface and the ease of using “Hey Spotify” to control what you want to listen to. “While we have yet to see any material impact to our business, we are keeping a close eye on the situation and evaluating our headcount growth in the near term,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Vogel told investors recently.Spotify Car Thing gets new features in an upgrade to its smart player that was officially released in February in the US. The audio-streaming service had been on a hiring spree, adding 2,000 employees between 2019 through 2021 and bringing the company’s headcount to 6,617.
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Last month, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told employees that the company will slow hiring this year by 25% due to deteriorating macroeconomic conditions. Read more: Spotify Expects to Slow Hiring, Growth Spotify introduced Car Thing in April of 2021, describing it as a “smart player that fills your car with music, news, entertainment, and talk,” designed to address its users’ need for “a seamless and personalized in-car listening experience,” that aims to bring “our entire catalog of music and podcasts to a wider range of users across an even wider range of vehicles.”Īt the time, the company said its focus “remains on becoming the world’s No.1 audio platform - not on creating hardware.”
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This initiative has unlocked helpful learnings, and we remain focused on the car as an important place for audio.” “Existing devices will perform as intended. “Based on several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues, we have decided to stop further production of Car Thing unit,” the spokesperson said. Read more: Spotify Tests Out ‘Smart Player’ For In-Car Use Spotify has stopped making Car Thing, its in-car smart player, the streaming company said in its earnings report Wednesday (July 27).Īccording to the report, Spotify missed its gross margins in the second quarter of 2022, saying they were “negatively impacted by our decision to stop manufacturing Car Thing,” a move that will result in a $31.4 million charge.Ī company spokesperson told TechCrunch that the goal of Car Thing was to “better understand in-car listening,” and bring audio to more users and vehicles.
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