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Streaming music company Slacker has big news out today. The company has inked a deal with EMI, Universal and Warner Music Group to let customers access their music from soon-to-be launched Slacker Portable Players. This makes Slacker among the first companies to offer a mobile streaming music service that is not accessed on a cell phone (i.e. dependent on your cellular carrier) and doesn’t require satellite radio service. Slacker listeners can refresh personalized streams on their portable players via Wi-Fi or USB.

I love the Pandora music service and specifically I love accessing it on my Squeezebox. But after trying out Slacker last month, I have to admit the customization options on the Slacker desktop app are stellar. I don’t use Slacker much because I don’t like listening to music on my computer, but having a portable device could change things. If the Slacker music players are well-designed (and not inordinately expensive), they’ll be hugely compelling come holiday shopping time.