Enter the Squeezebox Duet. It's a wireless multi-room digital audio receiver. Play your entire MP3 collection, or stream Internet Radio from various online services - including Pandora, Rhapsody, and, yes, Slacker.
The Squeezebox Duet provides the kind of functionality you'd normally expect to see on a $1,000 system, for less than half the price. Plus, it includes Slacker. And I don't just like Slacker, I love it.
It's called the "Duet" because the device includes a separate Controller and Receiver. The Controller has a bright iPod-esque 2.4" display with album art and other goodies. So you no longer need to walk up to the receiver to change the tunes (convenient if you're using it for multi-room purposes). You also don't need your computer to be on (or connected) to listen to your personal collection or other services - they let you store your MP3s in an online "music locker" - so it's pretty darn convenient as well.
Oh, and it won a CNET Best of CES award.
The Squeezebox Duet isn't available for sale yet, but when it is, it'll run for $399. That's a decent entry price, especially for consumers who are into home entertainment systems.
Anyone want to guess when these types of products will be the "home radios" of the future?
Check out more pics, with the fully functioning Slacker service running, after the jump...
There is a plugin for SqueezeCenter, formerly SlimServer, which allows you to stream Sirius on Squeezeboxes and SliMP3s. I don't know the details of the latest Squeezebox or if the plugin/SqueezeCenter will work, but it should. I still have an original caseless SliMP3 that is 5 or 6 years old. Squeezebox Duet is what the SliMP3 has evolved into.
Any idea if there's a monthly fee for storing and serving your music collection on their servers?
In answer to the question "Anyone want to guess when these types of products will be the "home radios" of the future?", the answer is, they already are. I've been using the existing SqueezeBox internet radio for over a year, in preference to regular FM and AM. In fact, I use it to listen to, among other things, AM radio, since the internet signal of the AM station is clearer.
Thanks for the tip on the Sirius plugin. I don't think there's a music storage fee, now, but there are fees for Pandora and other listening services. However, regular internet radio stations, of which there are hundreds if not thousands, are free, and largely commercial free.
Ryan doesn't like Slacker.
He LOOOOOOOOOVES it!!!
Ryan's got a squeezebox, the wife's gonna be bored as hell tonight...