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Car and Driver INTELLIDASH PRO Wireless Apple Carplay ONLY 7'' IPS Touchscreen with Bluetooth, SiriusXM, Siri Assistant. Dash Windshield Mounted​

$399

I have one of these. It does what is promised, but it is big, thick, ugly, and takes up too much space.
 
horrible.jpg


First thing that popped into my head when I saw it.

I gotta go, I have a meeting with the Bobs in 10 min....
 
I couldn't wait to get rid of this thing when I used to have Sirius for the car. This connects to the phone for data anyway, why not just use the phone instead?
Pretty much. It is a bit safer and easier than screwing around with the phone while driving. Wake and unlock phone, fumble with the interface while driving.....

The same could be said of CarPlay. Why have CarPlay on displays in cars? It's just safer. Tens of millions of cars on the roads don't have this ability.

It would be a better value proposition if it could at least load Google Maps or something instead of a one trick poney.
 
I got one. It's actually really cool, helps me drive safer, keep my phone in my pocket, and makes it easy to switch between playlists.
 
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You know what else is more convenient? Being able to keep your iPhone in your pocket, and just use the car controls to control your music. CarPlay or not, it doesn't matter. Better than attaching 90 things to your dash.
 
I love the name “Car Thing”.
Not sure if you are being serious or joking, but I love the name and think it is good marketing by Spotify.

Apple has really lost it when it came to their naming of things lately.

Apple TV, Apple TV+, Apple TV App for example.

M1 Max Macs (say it out loud) is another.

"Car Thing" is great naming, but I would never buy one.

I have no interest in anything from Spotify
I have never subscribed to Spotify or Apple Music, but my kids have been asking me to get the Spotify Premium.

I was thinking of giving it a try, but am unsure if I could use the single account on multiple devices to share with my kids, or if I will be forced to get the family plan.
 
Not sure if you are being serious or joking, but I love the name and think it is good marketing by Spotify.

Apple has really lost it when it came to their naming of things lately.

Apple TV, Apple TV+, Apple TV App for example.

M1 Max Macs (say it out loud) is another.

"Car Thing" is great naming, but I would never buy one.


I have never subscribed to Spotify or Apple Music, but my kids have been asking me to get the Spotify Premium.

I was thinking of giving it a try, but am unsure if I could use the single account on multiple devices to share with my kids, or if I will be forced to get the family plan.
No, I’m not joking. I actually think it’s a funny name, and funny names can be good branding.

I still have no interest in Spotify, though. I buy music, preferably on CD. The only thing I subscribe to is Netflix...

...and I might cancel that and turn to Blu-Ray. I’m sick of every company wanting to have their own streaming subscription service, and even more sick of the BS of licensing/availability chaos.
 
I still have no interest in Spotify, though. I buy music, preferably on CD.
Me too.

I few years back I started collecting physical media again. CDs, DVDs, Blurays, vinyl. I have found really good deals on some physical media, sometimes people selling boxes of the stuff for only a fraction of what it worth on eBay. For a lot of new content, I went to 4K Blurays.

Plex is great for ripped media.

I still subscribe to streaming subs, like Netflix, but only keep them for a few months and switch to another. I still have my iTunes Match sub after all these years.

Normally, I wouldn't care about Spotify, but my kids keep asking about it and I was thinking of getting it a try. So far, I just downloaded the apps, it requires making an account to try it.

BS of licensing/availability chaos.
Yeah, I am tired of my digital purchases disappearing, but mostly games. I have a large library of games on tvOS, but a lot of game developers have been dropping tvOS support for their games over the last few years.

I have old Atari 2600 games and NES games that still play almost 40 years later, but I cannot keep some tvOS games going for more than a few years. Just sad.
 
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Ironically the only cars I can think of that this would be useful for do not have bluetooth, aux or usb either, every other car has it already built in anyway and what would you do with navigation? (I suppose this device does not include Google Maps?) there is only so many devices the fan can handle
True! But it works perfectly in my 2007 vehicle - my phone automatically connects via bluetooth to the Car Thing and to a bluetooth FM transmitter, which broadcasts to the radio. It all starts automatically when I turn on the car and works very seamlessly so that my phone can stay in my pocket. I wanted a single-purpose music device so there wouldn't be any distractions with texts etc. and this works pretty perfectly. Not for everyone - especially anyone with a newer vehicle - but is the perfect device for some!
 


Spotify's first hardware device, the "Car Thing," is now available to purchase in the United States for $89.99.

spotify-car-thing-1.jpg

Announced in April last year, the Car Thing is an in-car dash-mounted music and podcast player designed to provide a more seamless and personalized listening experience, especially in the large number of cars that do not support modern in-car infotainment systems or Apple CarPlay.

The Car Thing is aimed at Spotify Premium subscribers with these needs and features a touchscreen, a knob for navigation, voice control features, and four user-configurable buttons for fast access to areas such as favorite music, podcasts, or playlists.

spotify-car-thing-2-1.jpg

The user interface takes cues from the Spotify mobile app so that it is familiar to users, and there is the choice of touch controls, "Hey Spotify" voice commands, or physical navigation via the knob. The Car Thing works over Bluetooth, or via an AUX or USB cable, and it comes with three different dash and vent mounts to ensure that it fits to the dashboard securely, as well as a car charger and a USB-C cable.

The Car Thing is compatible with iOS and Android devices, and connects to a user's smartphone for data and linking to the Spotify app. The Car Thing was initially only available to selected users who requested an invite during the device's testing period, but now the device is now publicly available in the United States for $89.99 including shipping.

Article Link: Spotify's Dash-Mounted 'Car Thing' Now Available for $89.9


Spotify's first hardware device, the "Car Thing," is now available to purchase in the United States for $89.99.

spotify-car-thing-1.jpg

Announced in April last year, the Car Thing is an in-car dash-mounted music and podcast player designed to provide a more seamless and personalized listening experience, especially in the large number of cars that do not support modern in-car infotainment systems or Apple CarPlay.

The Car Thing is aimed at Spotify Premium subscribers with these needs and features a touchscreen, a knob for navigation, voice control features, and four user-configurable buttons for fast access to areas such as favorite music, podcasts, or playlists.

spotify-car-thing-2-1.jpg

The user interface takes cues from the Spotify mobile app so that it is familiar to users, and there is the choice of touch controls, "Hey Spotify" voice commands, or physical navigation via the knob. The Car Thing works over Bluetooth, or via an AUX or USB cable, and it comes with three different dash and vent mounts to ensure that it fits to the dashboard securely, as well as a car charger and a USB-C cable.

The Car Thing is compatible with iOS and Android devices, and connects to a user's smartphone for data and linking to the Spotify app. The Car Thing was initially only available to selected users who requested an invite during the device's testing period, but now the device is now publicly available in the United States for $89.99 including shipping.

Article Link: Spotify's Dash-Mounted 'Car Thing' Now Available for $89.99
Because all the cellphones people have BEEN using for Spotify don’t do the same thing?
 
Any recommendations on what you'd get instead that's still dash mountable rather than replacing the factory deck?
Sadly, no. My car is small, so maybe that is why it seems to take up so much space. It works great. I just don't like to look of it.
 
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