The Slacker G2 is everything its predecessor wasn't, and more...

Thanks to deep pockets, and a determined executive team, Slacker has returned with a vengence. Their new G2 player is everything the first generation model wasn't, and then some, and their online radio propostion has only gotten stronger with a refined interface and a larger, even more eclectic, catalog of music. We have been evaluating the G2 for several months, and everyone involved in the evaluation, from our editor-in-chief to staff writers, has come away with positive impressions.

The original Slacker, which resembled the PalmIII, was Dead On Arrival...

The clunky first generation model resembled a Palm III PDA, instead of a sophiticated, design-forward player, and the device's ribbon controller, which the company touted as its power feature and differentiator, just didn't work. After getting a smackdown from critics, users and industry veterans alike, the company went back to the drawing board to develop an entirely new model that met the expectations of the company and the public.

Features:

• Ultra Portable design
• Integrated Slacker Radio
• Completely portable, no network connection required to play
• Slacker personal radio stations automatically refresh over Wi-Fi or USB
• Over 100 expertly programmed stations
• Free Slacker Basic Radio and Slacker Premium Radio
• 2.4" color screen displays artist profiles, album reviews & cover art
• Favorite and Ban buttons enable personalization on the go
• Custom EQ and Volume Normalization options
• Available in 25 and 40 station capacities
• Standard 30-pin accessory connector
• Plays your existing music collection (MP3 and WMA)
• Up to 15 hours of claimed battery life

The Slacker ecosystem consists of an online radio component that hosts over 100 stations, and the G2 hardware radio player. Going through a simple online process, you pick the stations that appeal to you, and then Slacker populates the hardware via USB 2.0 or Wi-Fi with songs. The $199 4GB model allows for 25 stations - about 2500 songs, and the $249 8GB model provides 40 stations - about 5000 songs. Both devices allow the user to upload their own MP3 or WMA files to the devices (1GB of storage for the 4GB model and 2GB of action for the 8GB) via USB (PC only). However, if you're thinking that the Slacker G2 is a replacement for your iPod, you're missing the point.

First and foremost, the Slacker G2 is a radio. Although the G2 can store your own tracks for playback, this is simply a secondary feature that most users will not even utilize. In this regard, it is currently one of the best online radio players available, especially if you enjoy listening to web radio for music discovery. But before we get too deep into the specifics, we want to lay the foundation.

The Slacker provides artist bios, album information and song data on its 2.4" color display

The founders of Slacker were initially motivated by the conundrum that most users of iPods and other digital music players face each day: a stale catalog. Whether your player can hold 1GB or 200GB of music, it never gets updated unless you actively buy or "obtain" new music and download it to the device.

"You may have access to a lot of music, but what we found is that people would buy a music player, put all their music on it right away, and then that would be it. They may never update it again until they bought another music player," reveals Jonathan Sasse, Slacker's VP of Marketing.

Slacker went to work on solving the "chore" of updating your music player by centering their new offering around a hardware internet radio player and creating an entirely new business model that combined the best of what was currently available.

"We saw this as an opportunity, what if we could make a music player that functions like an internet radio, personalize as you listen, set preferences, but put it in a portable device that doesn't need to be connected, and it will update you stations automatically," Sasse offers. "Before we launched we did voluntary licensing deals with labels and publishers, everybody, we knew that our solution was different. It wasn't something that anybody had done before. It wasn't a subscription service, it wasn't dollar downloads, it wasn't internet radio. It was a hybrid type of solution, so we had to draft a new type of licensing structure."

The new model is not only expansive, but also flexible enough to allow Slacker to react to new developments and implement additional revenue streams as they materialize. As of today, Slacker generates income by selling the Slacker G2 player (hardware), selling a premium subscription the eliminates the commercials and allows unlimited skips (subscription), selling the individual songs (downloads), and selling commercials (advertising).

Slacker's VP of Marketing, Jonathan Sasse

With the multitude of revenue possibilities, Slacker had an easier time of pitching the idea of a free music service to labels and publishers. By demonstrating the revenue potential of advertising, song plays, pay per download, and a premium subscription service, the concern was able to negotiate deals with the biggest content catalogs.

One area of concern for record labels was exactly how Slacker proposed to protect their content from piracy. According to Jonathan Sasse, Slacker "submited white papers to showcase their technology [and for the labels] to understand how everything worked [and that the company] could protect their content."

One thing that probably soothed the label's concerns was the fact that the songs on the Slacker radio are encoded in the ACC Pro V2 format, which is roughly equivalent to a 128kb MP3. Certainly not the highest fidelity. Thus, even if there was a breach of security, and the songs ended up on a Peer To Peer (P2P) service, they wouldn't be coveted by file swappers.

Our Tests

Music exploration is the Slacker's magic. Everytime you sync the unit to the internet via Wi-Fi or the USB port, it updates the unit with new songs. The majority of users found the programming to be consistent with the two leading satellite radio providers, as well as Pandora, but "much better than Music Choice" and the more eclectic channels "always turned me on to a new band or musician that I never knew existed."

Not only does Slacker showcase the album artwork, but they also provide a detailed biography and/or album review to explore, "another fantastic feature." These informative tidbits appear to be cultivated from several sources, but are consistant in their quality. "I loved reading the in-depth bios and album information on the Slacker, which sets it far apart from my iPod," raved one reviewer.

Slacker didn't skimp out on the accessories that are included with the G2

The Slacker also adapts to your tastes via dediated Favorite, or Ban buttons. Does one track stand out on your station? Hit the Heart button and the player remembers it as one of your favorites and will program the channel with not only more plays of that particular track, but others like it. Can't stand a song? Press the Void button and Slacker will never play that song again.

The G2 ditches the poorly designed ribbon controller from the first model and opted instead for a toggle wheel that RIM used on their Blackberry models before introducing the mini trackball with the Curve. It is a vast improvement, but some reviewers found it to be "somewhat unstable" and "wonky."

If you don't want to pony up for the premium service, you are relegated to only six "skip this song" per hour, and commercials. None of our readers found this be an issue, with the overall programming quality, and the amount of commercials was minimal. Only one reviewer complained about the sound quality, while most found the sonics to be "adequate." However, the first thing you'll want to do is "buy a decent pair of headphones" and keep the "bulky Slacker eabuds as backups."

The screen resolution is also quite good for such a small unit making even the "small text readable." However, two of the testers wished it was "a little brighter." Battery life averaged between 9-11 hours between needing a recharge and many found that the battery would significantly drain between uses. Another gripe was that the play button on/off switch was "never decisive" with "a long boot up time." Several pointed out that Slacker should have used the silver circle logo "as the on/off switch," something that should have been "a no-brainer" to the company.

Slacker went to great lengths to improve the Wi-Fi element of the G2. Not only does the new Wi-Fi attenttae provide a greater range, but it no longer constantly "hunts" for a connection, which reduced battery life in the original unit. It also incorporates the Devicescape technology, which allows for easier connectivity to public hotspots. However, if you don't connect to the service every 14 days, then the Slacker times out and becomes a brick, something to think about if you're thinking of taking the unit with you on an extended trip.

All in all, there's a lot to love about the Slacker G2, especially if you're into music discovery. The G2 has been completely revamped, so if you were completely turned off by the hardware component of the original, but thought the radio service was provocative, the G2 is definitely worth a second look.

The Future: Slacker has now branched out from the hardware component by announcing a deal with RIM and Apple to put a Slacker app on their respective cell phones. The launch of software apps for the Blackberry and iPhone was mandatory to keep competitive with Pandora and other offerings, however, this has to be troubling for a company whose majority of revenue is derived from hardware sales.

The Slacker G2 comes in two models based on total storage capacity; 4GB for $199 and an 8GB for $249. The 4GB model features 25 Stations (2500 Songs) and you can store up to 1GB of your own MP3s. The 8GB holds 40 stations (4000 songs) and up 3GB of personal storage. The Slacker Radio Plus subscription, which allows unlimited skips and no commercials is $3.99 a month. Slacker G2 4GB Model  |  Slacker G2 8GB Model

>>> Back to Digihear?