Ford And Spotify Integration Makes In-Car Music Fun Again
Oh, Spotify. How you've grabbed the hearts of American technology lovers. We haven't seen a music service with this much fanfare in the U.S. since the days of Napster, and while we suspect that half of the hype has to do with the incredibly long wait for Americans to actually get the service (it was available in Europe long before), it's also a fantastic service that's largely worth the wait. For music lovers who don't mind paying a monthly subscription to have access to nearly everything on the planet, coupled with a great mobile app and a perfectly-executed "offline" feature, Spotify has proven to be a legitimate competitor in the expanding streaming world.
And now, Spotify is taking their efforts to the next logical place: the automotive world. Everyone listens to tunes in the car -- we've all seen the guy singing at the stoplight -- and Spotify wants to make music more enjoyable in the car. Launching at TechCrunch's Disrupt Conference in San Francisco, the Ford / Spotify tie-up will tie into the existing voice-activated Ford SYNC system. It's not an official partnership, but who cares? If it works together, it works together.
Ford has offered developers the change to further explore the SYNC API and "demonstrate how to integrate apps like Spotify into SYNC." This remains the company's first in-car integration, but we doubt it will be the last. It seems to tie into the AppLink system, but specific details are still being fleshed out. Still, we love where this is going. In-car navigation systems have lagged behind in so many ways, and grabbing the exploding market of "right now" seems to a trend that automakers have ignored. But if Ford openly embraces something as fresh as Spotify, that can only mean good things for music / car integration in the future. Your turn, Chevy!
And now, Spotify is taking their efforts to the next logical place: the automotive world. Everyone listens to tunes in the car -- we've all seen the guy singing at the stoplight -- and Spotify wants to make music more enjoyable in the car. Launching at TechCrunch's Disrupt Conference in San Francisco, the Ford / Spotify tie-up will tie into the existing voice-activated Ford SYNC system. It's not an official partnership, but who cares? If it works together, it works together.
Ford has offered developers the change to further explore the SYNC API and "demonstrate how to integrate apps like Spotify into SYNC." This remains the company's first in-car integration, but we doubt it will be the last. It seems to tie into the AppLink system, but specific details are still being fleshed out. Still, we love where this is going. In-car navigation systems have lagged behind in so many ways, and grabbing the exploding market of "right now" seems to a trend that automakers have ignored. But if Ford openly embraces something as fresh as Spotify, that can only mean good things for music / car integration in the future. Your turn, Chevy!
