This latest release by Slacker seems to be following in the path of their recent decision to phase out of the hardware business — the good news is that there is now a Slacker app available in the Android Market. The Android app, similar to the one for the iPhone and BlackBerry will allow you more »

This news hardly comes as surprising, but according to Jim Cady who is the current president of Slacker, the G2 will be phased out sometime during the second half of 2010. According to the details given, the hardware player does not “fit with the company’s long-term strategy” which is shifting towards the online music service more »

The original Slacker Music Player was originally announced back in November 2007, and it experienced several delays before it actually hit the market. After which it was not always given the best reviews and there seemed to be many issues that were holding back its potential success. I say potential success because the Slacker Radio service is great and a pleasure to use; it is a great way to listen to a wide variety of music without having to sit and sort and create playlists.

With an already good music service, the introduction of the new hardware seems like it can only help in giving Slacker some success. The newly released player is the Slacker G2 Portable Radio Player and perhaps the biggest change is in the size. The G2 is much smaller, measuring in at 3.4 x 2.0 x 0.5-inches and weighing just 2.6-ounces. Feature wise it offers a 2.4-inch display with a 320 x 240 pixel resolution, built-in Wi-Fi and comes in either a 4GB or 8GB storage option. As far as the external controls, the G2 has the volume control located on the top, with a scroll wheel, home button and lock button on the right hand side. Additionally, the G2 also has a USB port on the lower left side and an industry standard accessory connector on the bottom.

Slacker has just announced the G2 Personal Radio Player, which serves as a follow up to the original Portable Player that was announced last November. We were able to get out first glimpse of what to expect with the G2 when we saw the FCC approval come through last month, and thankfully it seems the released player has kept the looks we expected.

First off, I am not 100% sold on the new design as it still seems to have the style of either an older PDA or very basic touchscreen phone. With that said you cannot really argue the fact the design has been very much improved from the previous version. Aside from the new design, the basic features remain the same as the original player which means that it will allow you to have a personalized listening experience without having to purchase any music or even subscribe to a service.

More on the Slacker G2 after the break.