Some of the Slacker crew is here in DC today and, while I couldn’t swing a meeting, we did carve out time for a brief phone call. Basically, much of what Mari loves from her Slacker Portable hardware will be ported to the Blackberry platform next month. Unlike Pandora‘s mobile solution, Slacker copies playlist songs down to a device. Though you’ll obviously need a network to populate your mobile, once loaded, you’ll be able to listen on the subway or plane without worrying about connectivity. The basic ad-supported service will remain free, and an ad-free premium service will also be offered. RIM’s serious about reaching beyond their traditional business-oriented base by bringing the noise multimedia (also see TiVo).
Somewhat related, I finally got some hands-on time with the Blackberry Bold yesterday…. It’s truly a beautiful handset, and felt solidly-constructed. This Slacker integration may just seal the deal for me. Which leads to the question: How many phones does one man need?
