By Eliot Van Buskirk September 16, 2008 8:33:48 AMCategories:Gear
Slacker's customized and programmable radio stations feature a healthy catalog of over two million songs that the company licenses directly from labels and publishers without putting up with SoundExchange's government-mandated royalty rates.
It's essentially a portable version of Pandora, albeit one with a few different station creation options. You can request songs to be played on a customized channel and fine-tune those channels. Some of the device's storage can also be designated for MP3s, WMAs and AACs you've already heard.
Of course, there's already a portable version of Pandora that iPhone and iPod Touch users can download from the Apple App Store. But as with every music-related application from the software synth to the portable audio player, dedicated hardware can do the job better.
For example, there are no Heart and Ban buttons on the iPhone for quick song rating. Speaking of the design, what a huge leap forward this device is from the company's first effort -- a much larger, blockier affair with a touch strip running down the side that most users probably disabled out of confusion. The new chassis, somewhat reminiscent in shape to the Rio Nitro of yore, is compact, sturdy and attractive. And like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the Slacker G2 connects easily to WiFi networks, including those that require web browser sign in, thanks to Slacker's partnership with DeviceScape.
You can try Slacker out for free via the web or the company's PC software (we prefer the web version, which can be accessible from both Windows and Mac machines). If you're ready to take the leap to a hardware version of the service, you can pick up the 4GB (25 channel) model for $200 or the 8GB (40 channel) model for $250.
Check out my review of the device for Gadget Lab.
Here, we see the artist bios that can be scrolled using the jog wheel on the upper right edge:
Slacker's customized and programmable radio stations feature a healthy catalog of over two million songs that the company licenses directly from labels and publishers without putting up with SoundExchange's government-mandated royalty rates.
It's essentially a portable version of Pandora, albeit one with a few different station creation options. You can request songs to be played on a customized channel and fine-tune those channels. Some of the device's storage can also be designated for MP3s, WMAs and AACs you've already heard.
Of course, there's already a portable version of Pandora that iPhone and iPod Touch users can download from the Apple App Store. But as with every music-related application from the software synth to the portable audio player, dedicated hardware can do the job better.
For example, there are no Heart and Ban buttons on the iPhone for quick song rating. Speaking of the design, what a huge leap forward this device is from the company's first effort -- a much larger, blockier affair with a touch strip running down the side that most users probably disabled out of confusion. The new chassis, somewhat reminiscent in shape to the Rio Nitro of yore, is compact, sturdy and attractive. And like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the Slacker G2 connects easily to WiFi networks, including those that require web browser sign in, thanks to Slacker's partnership with DeviceScape.
You can try Slacker out for free via the web or the company's PC software (we prefer the web version, which can be accessible from both Windows and Mac machines). If you're ready to take the leap to a hardware version of the service, you can pick up the 4GB (25 channel) model for $200 or the 8GB (40 channel) model for $250.
Check out my review of the device for Gadget Lab.
Here, we see the artist bios that can be scrolled using the jog wheel on the upper right edge:
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