The much-anticipated Slacker Player will get a boost - $40 million to be exact - just in time for its summer release. This is series B funding for the “Personal Internet Radio,” which received $14.5 million earlier in the year.
The Slacker Portable Radio Player is equipped with satellite as well as WiFi connectivity. Slacker is an easily customizable player and delivers a highly personalized music experience. Personally I enjoy music most when listening to Internet radio stations like LastFM (an online rival of Slacker) and Live365, more than I enjoy it on a portable DAP or a less portable CD player. The player itself will cost between $150 and $250. The radio subscription will set you back $7.50 a month (go to the Slacker site to try it out).
Slacker’s model has been touted as an iPod killer. An earlier release by SanDisk, delivers a similar Internet radio experience. Sansa Connect uses Yahoo! Music service. Both players will head the “portable Internet radio revolution.”
[via orbitcast]
December 12th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
I don’t expect this to be an iPod killer, or even a Zune killer. But I really think the Slacker portable is really just touching upon a different segment of the market. I have been using the slacker web player since it’s release in March and have to say if the hardware is upto par with the software then they will have a great combo. Also noted that if they can get the third party support then I think they will have a good following. Slacker also stated that it would not be affected by the recent internet radio royalty price hikes (for now). A few more weeks, and we’ll let the reviews come rolling in. Also check out http://www.slackersocial.com Seems to be a good start to a social backing. I’ll try to post an unboxing and complete review as soon as it arrives.
January 10th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Luv the software!!!!! Effortless instant gratification! Better than Roku, or Sansa Connect( a pain in the ass) I really like the sound quality exceeding expectations. This is the future. My mind is sooo exhausted from creating my own stations . I don’t have to worry about using up my space on my laptops hard drive (like iTunes,ouch!)because your favs are stored at slackers servers; premium subscription would cement your choices when the radio comes along……..I ordered the radio today with the 40 station limit. It is also international, with the ability to access music all over the world. WOW!