Slacker already boasts over four times the music selection of their nearest competitor.   The high quality sound over any connection is an attractive feature, but now you don’t have to stop your tunes to check your e-mail.  This allows uninterrupted musical enjoyment while you still conduct business.  Another great improvement for the new Slacker application is faster song to song transitions.

Slacker has been doing anything but Slacking.  They are working constantly on improvements so that the consumer can enjoy an unparalleled music experience.

It should be noted that the lyrics will only be available via the web player if you have an existing Radio Plus subscription. If the ability to cut ads, skip unlimited songs, and request unlimited songs were not enough, you can now add lyrics to the list of features available for only $3.99 per month.

iPhone and Blackberry pics after the jump…

Slacker iPhone lyrics

Slacker Blackberry lyrics

Today Slacker announced the release of their latest free mobile app for the BlackBerry Storm. BlackBerry Storm users in the U.S with OS 4.3 or higher can now listen to their favorite Slacker radio stations anywhere they go, whether they are connected to a wireless network or not.

The intuitive sleek user interface has both horizontal and vertical views with full touchscreen capabilities that allow users to pause, skip, rate, ban, view artist info, album art, and look ahead at information about the next artist coming up in rotation.

Exclusive new station caching for the BlackBerry now enables listeners to store their favorite stations on a memory card, allowing them to listen without a network connection. The new caching ability is also said to reduce power consumption by up to 5 times that of streaming playback and enhances performance.

The application is totally free and is available for download by visiting Slacker.com from any BlackBerry Storm. More images for your viewing pleasure after the jump…

Now playing:

Menu:

For the first time, iPhone and iPod touch owners can finally take advantage of the same features made available via the web interface, such as artist biographies and album reviews, station fine tuning, “peek ahead” song previews and custom artist stations.

This is clearly a huge addition to the crowd pleasing arsenal of Slacker products but, more importantly, this new app gives Slacker a big leg up on the growing competition. More eye candy after the jump…

Fine Tuning:

Station Info:

Now Playing:

First Things First.  You need to upgrade your Blackberry operating system to version 4.5 or newer.  Not only will this allow you to download the Slacker application, but it will make your Blackberry better with things such as HTML e-mail.

Once you have accomplished this, the rest, like anything else brought to you by Slacker, is a breeze.  Simply direct your Blackberry to the link provided at Slacker, hit download, and shortly thereafter you will have the full Slacker service streaming on your Blackberry device.

The Slacker Blackberry service is intuitive, and even has the Slacker functions you have come to expect.  You can ”Love” songs, “Ban” them, and even find great new content.  There is buffering at times when listening live, so you may want to cache a few of your favorite channels onto the micro SD card in your Blackberry.  Caching stations makes them more seamless, and means that buffering or cell signal will not be a worry.

In some ways, the interface on the Blackberry even outdoes the existing portable.  I like the way the album covers are staged on the Blackberry service, and the channel organization is also quite nice.  The company groups together channels into categories, and has your own channels and recently played sitting right there at your fingertips.

The Slacker for Blackberry carries no additional charge.  This means whether you are a basic, Plus, or Premium listener, you are not going to see Slacker billing additional charges to you.  Data plans between cell carriers may vary, so check out your cell plan before jamming out for hours on end.  Cached stations are stored on the device, so even those that have limited data plans can take Slacker portable with relative ease, and you can enjoy the service as you commute!

If you have not tried Slacker on the Blackberry, get off your butt and download the application.  You will be glad you did.

So you ask… what’s the difference between the new Plus and Premium services? The only difference I can see is that the Premium has the ability to “heart” your favorite songs and cost $6 more per month. That being said, this new price point will no doubt be tempting to those who are already hooked on the ad supported service.

I have no idea idea long it will last but, as of today they are offering a 7 day free trial.

The Slacker G2 is a must have item to include on your own holiday wish list, or better still, look like a hero by getting a G2 for the music lover in your family. The Slacker G2 portable is a sure fire winner that makes gift giving easy.

The Slacker G2 has taken a bold step forward for the company, and brought their devices up to par with the Slacker Internet service many have come to love. The first player was great, but it was a bit big. The G2 not only gets smaller, but navigation is now easier, and portability is as easy as any iPod, cell phone, or Blackberry.

The Slacker G2 gives users the ability to hear songs they love via customized radio stations that refresh frequently so that you avoid a tired playlist. Users who do not mind DJ chatter and commercials can use the player with relative ease for no monthly fee. If you want to avoid music interruptions, you can subscribe for as little as $7.50 per month. Subscribing not only takes away commercials, but allows you unlimited skipping of songs.

One of the beautiful things about Slacker is the ability to customize your radio stations. If you like a band, there is a good chance that there is a radio station built around that band that features the songs you want interlaced with other artists that you would likely want to hear. It is music discovery without all of the work. No scrolling trough lists of songs and artists are required. Simply pick stations on the Slacker Internet service, and let them download to your Slacker G2 player via USB or WiFi. Better still, Slacker will pre-load your stations for you. This means that you can be jamming to your tunes as soon as it arrives.

The Slacker G2 has some upgrades over the first player that are not only worth mentioning, but make an upgrade worth while. Users can use equalizer settings to customize sound, and control everything from brightness to volume in with an easy to use scroll wheel that Blackberry users will be familiar with, and new users will find quite intuitive.

Battery life is a very respectable 15 hours, and the color screen gives more than just an artist name and song title. With ease, you can learn what album a song came from, as well as the history of the band. The favorite and ban buttons allow you to further customize your listening experience by tagging a song as a favorite, or banning a song from ever playing on your customized station again.

If you want the maximum in terms of functions, I would recommend that you get Slacker premium. Unlimited song skips and no commercials are great, but building a library of songs is what gives the most value to a subscription. The ability to build your library as you listen by simply pressing a button is a wonderful feature that makes all of the steps needed for an iPod seem antiquated.

Simply stated, Slacker falls into a niche between iPod and Sirius XM. If you love music, you will love Slacker. It gives you discovery of new content, while at the same time allowing you to build a library as you would with an iPod, Zune, or MP3 player. There are times when I wish I could skip a song on satellite, and times when i despise the time it takes to download new songs to an MP3. Slacker fits right in between, and has earned a coveted space on the dashboard of my car, and in my carry-on for flights.

The 25 station Slacker G2 retails for $199.99. For more information, or to order this great player for yourself, visit Slacker.

Slacker brings their unique style to the player. A stainless steel back ensures durability, and the sandblasted look will fit right in to any style. Slacker thought this player through, the perimeter has a textured feel that means you wont lose your grip, and the size is far more compatible with pockets than the original player.

The Slacker G2 Portable starts at only $199 for the 4 GB which is capable of storing 25 customized stations and 2,500 songs. The 8 GB Version prices out at $249, and gives you 40 customized stations and 4,000 songs.

You can order your own Slacker G2 and learn more by visiting the Slacker website.

Specifications:

• Physical Dimensions – 87 x 13.5 x 53(mm) 2.6oz (74 grams)
• Screen Resolution – 320 x 240 TFT
• Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g
• Audio Formats** – MP3, WMA & AAC
• Capacity* – 4GB or 8GB
• Battery Life – Up to 15 hours

Slacker has thought this through and they have the answer. They are even running a special in an effort to make your gift giving selection that much easier.

To celebrate the season of Dad’s and Grad’s, Slacker is offering a free custom carrying case with the purchase of any Slacker portable. The customized case makes protecting and carrying the Slacker Portable a breeze, and the case has a retail value of $29.99. Let that special person know you care by getting their favorite types of music stations pre-loaded onto the Slacker portable when you order. Preloading is a freebie that allows the recipient to begin jamming to their favorite tunes right out of the box.

A special station has even been created for the graduating Slackers. Graduation Party Radio is a specialized channel featuring tunes that are always popular at this time of year. As with all Slacker channels, your listening will customize the channel even further.

Father’s Day is this weekend, and graduation is fast approaching. Log into Slacker now, to order the gift of music.

We got our hands on the 4GB Slacker Portable, and it not only made Slacker that much more appreciated, it also found its way into my car (via an auxiliary jack), and competes heavily for my listening ear.

The Slacker Portable is a godsend for audiophiles who want great music that suits their tastes without all of the hassle that some other services have. Up until now, Slacker was a service that I used in my home and on my PC at work. Those days are now gone, and my ears thank me every day.

If you love Slacker on your computer, the Slacker Portable Player is fast becoming a must have device, but beware….you will find yourself tempted to go ahead and sign up for the premium service! Unlimited skipping of songs, the ability to save songs, and no commercials now will have now have even more value with the addition of a Slacker Portable Player. At only $90 for a year, the added convenience of a premium account will have you jamming in no time. The price is right as well. $90 will get you the same 90 songs day after day on your i-Pod. With Slacker you can save those same songs and far more, all while being exposed to other music you like.

The Slacker Portable takes all of the great features of the Slacker service, and puts them literally in the palm of your hand. Album art, artist biography’s, and easy navigation make the portable a device that not only delivers great tunes, but eye candy as well.

The Slacker Portable weighs in at only 4.6 ounces, making it light yet feature packed. At 4.2” x 2.75” x 0.67” it is not as small as some MP3 players out there, but the features and ease of use will make it an instant staple in your listening choices.

The most noticeable feature of the Slacker portable is the 16:9 aspect ratio 4” screen that sports TFT-LCD and 480 x 272 resolution making the Slacker Portable easy to read. Users have a choice of controls with a scroll wheel that will be very familiar to Blackberry users, as well as a nifty touch strip that lets your fingers do the walking.

Navigation through the menus is a breeze, and with the 4 GB version offering up 25 customized stations, you can find or even create channels that suit your mood any time. There is also plenty of room for your own music collection as well as stored songs for premium account holders.

The beauty of this device is the discovery aspect. You will always hear fresh new songs because the device updates via WIFI. That means that a fresh new listing of about 4,000 songs (4GB player) can be imported to your Slacker Portable in record time simply by walking into your WIFI network. With up to 10 hours of battery life, the Slacker Portable will always be ready to stream.

The Slacker Portable is a great first step for the company that loves to make customized listening easy. Little features like knowing what song is next are simple touches that give you the listener more control over what you hear. Love a song? Hit the heart button and it is saved. Hate a song, hit the ban button and never worry about hearing it again. Slacker grows with you, and the Slacker Portable makes the learning process accelerate. With literally thousands of stations to choose from, you will never suffer from a tired playlist.

The Slacker Portable Player offers three versions to suit your needs:

• 2GB Player – 15 Stations – $199.99
• 4GB Player – 25 Stations – $249.99
• 8GB Player – 40 Stations – $299.99

All Slacker Portable features:

• Built-in Wi-Fi that auto-refreshes Slacker Radio stations
• Plays your existing music collection (MP3, WMA & AAC)
• Displays album art & reviews, artist bios and more
• Removable, rechargeable battery

For the ultimate Slacking experience, Slacker will even give you the option of having your existing listening stations pre-loaded onto the device. This allows you to literally hit the ground running when your Slacker Portable Player arrives.

Simply stated, the Slacker Portable takes a great Internet radio service and brings it portable. The device is already equipped with a slot for a future car kit, so it can grow with you. In my opinion, the Slacker Portable would be a welcomed addition for any fan of music. Even if you are not a Slacker Premium subscriber, this device is well worth having. We recommend having a premium account to fully utilize the Slacker experience. At only $90 for one year, the Premium account represents a value that should not be passed up.

Readers can order a Slacker Portable Player directly through the Slacker website.