Last week, we reported that Teenage Engineering was teasing the release of a new product through cryptic posts across the brand's Instagram page and that of its founder and CEO Jesper Kouthoofd.
We initially speculated that a new, Kraftwerk-themed product may be on the way, considering that the teaser posts were in German, rather than the brand's native Swedish, and the 50th anniversary of Autobahn was due on November 1st. That date has been and gone, though, with no announcements from Teenage Engineering.
Posts on Kouthoofd's Instagram page captioned "#gripcar2 #autonomous" also led us to posit that Teenage Engineering were working on a remote-controlled successor to Grip Car, a toy car released late last year.
This may well be the case, but it seems that this isn't the only product launch being planned, as investigative Redditors have spotted an FCC filing that confirms Teenage Engineering is gearing up to release a new product called OP-XY. Along with the Grip Car post, Kouthoofd has been sharing a series of images on Instagram with the caption "#XY", suggesting that both the OP-XY and the sequel to the Grip Car are about to be launched, or even that the two are somehow connected.
The filing indicates that OP-XY is a Bluetooth-equipped device that passed FCC certification in October, meaning that it's now approved for sale in the United States. As part of the filing, Teenage Engineering has requested a confidentiality period that ends in April 2025. Manufacturers will often request temporary confidentiality to avoid revealing product photos or manuals that give away sensitive information, especially if a device will be released in the months leading up to the end of the confidentiality period.
The product name OP-XY suggests that Teenage Engineering's next release will be a successor to the OP-Z, a music-making device released in late 2018. A hybrid of synth, sampler and audio-visual sequencer, the OP-Z has since become one of the most popular devices in Teenage Engineering's line-up, a more affordable alternative to the widely-beloved OP-1 and OP-1 field.
But what could a successor to the OP-Z look like? While the OP-Z was a popular product, it suffered from some limitations that the OP-XY could certainly address, most notably the lack of an integrated display. OP-Z users have to rely on its coloured LEDs, or use it alongside the companion app, to view detailed information; a built-in screen could make it much more user-friendly.
Knowing Teenage Engineering, the OP-XY isn't likely to be just a modernized version of the OP-Z with beefed-up specs
There are plenty more features that the OP-XY could benefit from, not least the ability to hook the device up to external gear; the OP-Z requires the addition of $149 expansion modules to connect to other pieces of kit via MIDI, CV and gate, or even sample audio via line-in. Though it's already powerful, the device's 16-track, 16-step sequencer could be expanded, especially as half of the available tracks are cordoned off to be used for effects and external control, with several devoted to its video and lighting sequencers.
With that said, knowing Teenage Engineering, the OP-XY isn't likely to be just a modernized version of the OP-Z with beefed-up specs. The Swedish brand love to defy expectations, and we'd wager that's exactly what's going to happen with the release of OP-XY. Considering that Kouthoofd's teasers for the product have concurrently referenced the sequel to the Grip Car, with one XY-labelled post featuring a close-up shot of a speedometer, it's highly possible that the two products will be linked.
The OP-Z was equipped with a built-in accelerometer, a motion-sensing device that could be used as an LFO source to modulate the internal synth, meaning that you could alter the device's sound by tilting it or moving it around. If we were taking a guess at how a toy car and a synthesizer might interact, this is where we'd place our bet.
Considering that accelerometers measure motion along three axes - X, Y, and Z - this makes it seem likely the OP-XY is going to be focused on motion-sensing as a broader theme, perhaps making use of its motion sensors as a way to control its synth and sampler in a more comprehensive fashion than the OP-Z, interact with its motion graphics and lighting sequencers, or even to control external gear via Bluetooth MIDI. We might see the integration of additional motion-sensing components, or even light sensors for Theremin-style gestural control.
Perhaps the next version of the Grip Car will have its own accelerometer, a motion sensor that connects to the OP-XY via Bluetooth and uses the motion of the car to modulate its sound engines? A little far-fetched, maybe, but when it comes to Teenage Engineering, anything is possible.
