March 11, 2008
Yesterday Slacker released a firmware update that addresses some of the glitches I described in my post yesterday, including the WPA password key problem and some stuttering I was occasionally hearing twoard the beginning of songs (anathema for flash device). The firmware upgrade was transparent and the Portable now automatically connects to the last access point used, which is the way it should be. By the way, unllke the Zune, the Slacker Portable can sync over Wi-Fi even when it is running on batteries.
However, I’d still like to see better status reporting on the home screen (or maybe even in the less prominent About screen) when a sync is complete because clicking “Connect” to see the status starts a sync again.
Glitches aside, it’s worth noting that the Slacker Portable provides a positive and unique portable music experience, picking up on some of the best aspects of last year’s innovative Sansa Connect, which unfortunately was tied to a premium music service that is slated to be shut down.
Slacker’s PR team also tells me that the Portable’s battery is indeed removable by inserting a pin into what looks like a reset hole.
Tags: firmware, Slacker PortableMarch 10, 2008
This weekend I had some time to check out the Slacker Portable, the device component of its free-tiered streaming music service. I’ve got more pictures after the break. Slacker describes the device simply as a “personal radio.” I was never fond of the “personal video recorder” term for describing devices like TiVo, but at least this has no “digital” or “Internet” techie nomenclature.
Some first impressions:
- Immediate out of the box experience is very good. Since Slacker knows the details of your account, they can populate the device with your custom stations. Unpack and press play (well, sort of, since there is actually no “Play” button on the device, just a “Pause” button that does double-duty).
- On the other hand, the first sync attempt failed without an error message. The new station that I added appeared on the opening menu, but there was no music available in it. A follow-up attempt closer to my access point worked just fine, except that the Portable isn’t remembering my network access key, which is quite annoying.
