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Slacker Announces Aptly Named "Portable" Music Device
Posted by Sean Fallon at 12:40 PM on November 15, 2007
Last month we learned that online music serivce Slacker would debut its own player sometime before the holidays. Today the company made it official with the announcement of their "Portable" portable music player. The device features a 4-inch screen, 15, 20 and 40 station capacities, the ability to play your existing MP3s and WMAs, 10 hours of battery time, and it will work with Slacker Basic Radio and Premium Radio services. The Portable is now available for pre-order at $US199.99 (15 stations, 2GB), $US249.99 (25 stations, 4GB ) and $US299.99 (40 stations, 8GB) . Expect the device to ship on, or before December 13th, 2007. [Slacker via Gearlog]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
illiniguy
Posted 3:13 AM 15/11/07
I don't think its crazy to look for more than 8 gigs on a music device. I like to be able to have my whole collection with me, but if they did release a model with 40 or more gigs on there I would definitely grab one. I like the slacker online service and I'd love a chance to download some recommendations and take them on the road with me.
illiniguy
kibets
Posted 12:11 AM 15/11/07
it appears slacker lives up to its name...
kibets
MeNotYou
Posted 10:31 PM 14/11/07
@crazysamz:
LOL@ "Only" 8gb.This is getting ridiculous.
MeNotYou
someToast
Posted 10:27 PM 14/11/07
... what ustna said.
I've had six iPods over the last six years (love the capacity on my 160GB classic, hate its sluggish UI) and I'm looking closely at the Slacker. I've always been interested in automated music recommendation methods.
Kind of blows how the number of stations is linked to the player's storage capacity (and price), though. It's not doing any long-term caching of the streams, is it?
someToast
v2h5a81
Posted 10:21 PM 14/11/07
I am seriously disappointed. I thought this would be the IT device, but with those specs it isn't even a contender for my ZEN VISION:M. It might not be as new but it has a bit more memory and at least I won't be limited by the space and needing to use stations to listen to music. Don't get me wrong, I think it will be the device for some but at least for me it doesn't fly.
v2h5a81
ustna
Posted 9:41 PM 14/11/07
@CRAZYSAMZ
Ok. Don't get one.
ustna
crazysamz
Posted 9:31 PM 14/11/07
only 8 GB? If I hadn't bought my 80GB Zune yesterday, and I couldn't get one, I wouldn't be choosing this DAP, simply because for that price and that capacity, it's not enough for me. I understand that you're supposed to use it's built in satellite radio, but I don't like to listen to broadcasted music, mainly only my own music I've downloaded, which is why I never use radio or watch music videos on tv. Also, 10 hour battery life sucks.
crazysamz
strider_mt2k
Posted 9:18 PM 14/11/07
It's a great service.
I hope the player is as nice.
strider_mt2k
strider_mt2k
Posted 7:45 AM 15/11/07
I noticed they JUST (like a minute ago) restarted the site and now the screen has a LARGER sidebar with ads for the new radio as well as the usual stuff.
For a second or two I thought they changed the sound quality too, but then I realized I was listening to a very old Jazz piece. -Duh on my part.
I know they need to start making some money.
The question is if they can do it without making the service suck.
I don't fully understand the device either, but I'm willing to wait and see how it is in the reviews before I start putting up a fuss about what it is or isn't.
strider_mt2k
stackybotrus
Posted 6:56 AM 15/11/07
This thing should be renamed to the WTF device.
stackybotrus
EMoShunz
Posted 8:01 AM 15/11/07
ogg people, come on, it's free. sheesh. guess i still have to use mp3. my guess is maybe 5% of media players do ogg anyway. does ipod or zune?
EMoShunz
strider_mt2k
Posted 10:47 AM 15/11/07
@EMoShunz: This isn't the same thing.
strider_mt2k
Hizzle
Posted 6:05 AM 17/11/07
Why are people comparing the Slacker device to the Zune or IPod? It's not competing with these devices. Wouldn't it make more sense to compare it to the inno or Stiletto? In that light, the specs seem much more reasonable. Also, the services behind these devices need to be compared as well. IMO, the Slacker radio service has a much better sound quality than that offered by Sirius, and it's free. I've not used XM.
Hizzle