The boys over at Crave had the chance to fondle the new Slacker player and were kind enough to snap off a few shots of the molestation in progress.

While the Slacker device seems oddly large for just being a flash player, Crave has also learned that the boys over at Slacker are talking to other device manufacturers to make its service (both free and paid) available to all.

Now imagine that... opening up your service to all those willing to support it? Crazy talk I tell you.

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The first question, at least to avid readers here, is how the heck is Slacker able to broadcast audio content over satellite? Well the folks over at WIRED got the scoop.

The company that owns Slacker - Broadband Instruments - is actually leasing portions of the Ku-Band (think Satellite TV) to send the content to the Slacker receiver. Who exactly they're leasing the bandwidth from is unknown.

The reason this has not been attempted before is that the receivers required to pull the signal down were too large (have you seen the KVH TracVision A7?). Apparently Broadband Instruments has developed a smaller receiver - about the size of XM and Sirius receivers - to add satellite reception to the optional docking stations/receivers for the car and home.

Slacker will be able to offer 10,000 tracks per day through this pipeline. The songs will be cached on the Slacker device and checked against your preferences to make sure you don't hear any songs you've banned.

Remember, the service is alot like Pandora in that you can "heart" or "ban" songs to tweak the music to your preferences. Your voting preferences are saved both online and on the device, which then is applied to the channels that you're listening to.

Anyone wanna make some bets that this will be brought up at the next antitrust hearing? Smells like legitimate competition to me.

[via WIRED Blogs] 

Engadget is reporting that the Slacker player, which we know will feature a 4-inch screen, will also be rocking a scrolling touch strip and will debut this summer.

The Slacker storage capacity will be available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB versions all the way up to 120GB (!!!) for a price between $150 and $350.

Slacker (which I guess is the name of the service as well as the device?) will have the ability to download your audio content via either WiFi and USB. And you'll be able to purchase tracks for $1.

Engadget also reports that there will be a docking station for home or in the car, so Slacker content is accessable while on the move or if you're out of WiFi range.

[Engadget]

Debuting this week at SXSW, Slacker is sure to ruffle some feathers as they look to combine satellite radio, a digital audio player, and custom WiFi radio - all into a single sleek device.

A new satellite radio company? But how? The FCC only granted two licenses right? According to CNET, Slacker's radio service is powered by their own proprietary technology that takes advantage of unused commercial satellite signals to send data. A soon to be released car-kit enables the listener to receive the satellite signal which works together with the Slacker portable device (pictured).

Former Rio CEO turn president of Slacker, Jim Cady, said that at first, the company considered a "more satellite-radio-specific (model) as a direct competitor with Sirius and XM. But it morphed into something much broader than that."