Amazon’s not the only one with new digital media hardware this holiday season, as internet radio provider Slacker is now taking pre-orders for their Portable Radio Player. And like the Kindle, no desktop computer is required:

Revolutionary DJ technology built into the device, and a new class of radio licenses, allow the Slacker Portable to play highly personalized radio stations even when not connected to Wi-Fi or any network. The portable players can automatically create perfect radio stations without the requirement of having to manage content or even a direct connection to a Mac or PC

What’s interesting about Slacker’s player is that they refer to the number of “stations” a device holds, rather than number of selections or disk size. However, it doesn’t appear to be live music streaming - rather a playlist of an undetermined song quantity is synced to the device via that USB or WiFi connection. On Pandora, I’m always skipping songs… so I wonder how frequently I’d need to re-sync the device for fresh music. However, it beats my XM Helix live radio which has no skip functionality and doesn’t work in airport lounges.

The sharp looking hardware starts at $199 (15 Stations) and can be used with the free Slacker service or new ad-free Premium Radio service ($7.50/mo) with unlimited skipping. Given the price of basic service (zero dollars), this is another compelling new model. However, they face some of the same challenges as Amazon: How do you reach the mass market with unique hardware and services, yet no physical retail presence?

I’m not sure why I’m so excited by the Kindle, especially given Sony’s eBook snorefest. Perhaps, I’ve just been a fan of Amazon since the early days and I enjoy seeing them push into digital media (Unbox, DRM-free MP3s, S3). Or maybe it’s rooting for the little guy with no hardware experience. However, I’m pretty sure most of my enthusiasm is due to the inclusion of “free” EVDO service, dubbed Whispernet, which changes the rules for media players. That wireless connectivity includes all publication downloads and Wikipedia access. Some more highlights:

• Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.
• Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
• Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
• More than 88,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
• New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
• Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
• Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
• Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.

The NYC press conference doesn’t start for another few minutes, but Amazon’s already launched their page with text and videos. Check it out!

You may have heard of the extremely popular, but thorn-in-the-side of the music industry AllofMP3.com. Well after selling non-DRM’d MP3’s to the masses for dirt cheap (they didn’t pay royalties), the Russians are at it again - this time offering movie downloads for $1.99. After AllofMP3 was shut down, it was re-branded & re-launched as MP3Fiesta and continues to sell music online. And now they’ve launched this new movie download service, called ZML, which will most definitely be on Hollywood’s hit list.

Their terms of service imply they’re following the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS) policies (although ROMS won’t recognize the organization if this goes down like it did with AllofMP3):

You can’t buy movies on the site if it violates the laws of your country.

Yes, this statement is pretty silly and no, it doesn’t mean you can legally purchase movies from ZML.com or that they’re legally permitted to sell them. But they’ll move a ton of movies here until they get shut down.

The site offers thousands of movies and the downloads are compatible with all the major devices including iPods, Zunes, and DivX players. While I think this would be the perfect model (DRM-free and usable in all devices) for movie download sites, I don’t think purchasing movies from ZML is a good idea.  Without paying studio royalties, ZML looks like it’s unethical and illegal as well.

Brent enjoys sharing his reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media. Check out more at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

I haven’t payed close attention to the Hollywood writers’ strike, but given that the heart of the issue is digital media distribution, I probably should. Multichannel News notes that the Writers Guild of America is penning a strike blog, and from today’s posts comes a succinct video on media moguls discussing the riches to be made in digital content. Sumner Redstone in a clip says flat out, “Viacom will double its revenues this year from digital.” The video then goes on to point out that writers will double their digital revenues too, from $0 to $0.

Given that content is king, writers should be eligible for some of the royal treasure. Unfortunately it looks like big media isn’t interested in sharing the digital wealth.

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs:

• The Motorola CableCARD Q&A: Connected Home 2 Go
• DivX Thrives, DVD Continues To Die: Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection
• Netflix Watch Now Download Hack Surveillance: Brent Evans Geek Tonic
• FiOS TV Gets HD: Connected Home 2 Go
• Sage 6.3.1 Beta Released, HD Extender Support: Brent Evanas Geek Tonic
• Femtocell Trials Begin: Connected Home 2 Go

Thus far, Amazon Unbox and Netflix Watch Instantly have been the online movie rental leaders. Well, according to Evan DiBiase, the latest version of iTunes hides a little surprise. iTunes 7.5 contains strings (rental-content, rental-bag, source-rental-info, dest-rental-info, etc) related to video on demand rental functionality! This would be a great addition by Apple and would certainly make sense for their iPod and AppleTV products. (via TechCrunch)

Brent enjoys sharing his reflections on tech, gadgets, software and media. Check out more at Brent Evans Geek Tonic.

DivX followed their earnings report with a JP Morgan conference presentation. Having just undergone their quarterly confessional, I didn’t expect to hear any new information.

Luckily, I was rewarded midway through the Q&A session. JP Morgan analyst Paul Coster coyly probed Kevin Hell regarding DivX support on the Xbox 360. The question seemed to catch Hell off guard and, while his initial reaction was enthusiasm, there was something in his tone suggesting that Coster was on target.

Below is the exchange verbatim. However, to fully appreciate the awkwardness of the exchange, I suggest listening in at the 24 minute mark and determine for yourself if you hear a sense of urgency in Hell’s response.

Just a minor point here, but there was a recent Microsoft conference where I believe their media extender now incorporates the DivX codec on it, is that correct? Can you confirm that and does that mean we’re soon going to see Xboxes with DivX on them?

Yes! that, uh, we’re in discussions with Microsoft on that at this point in time, so I can’t go into any great detail on that. Um that is not a certified, that is not a certified or licensed product at this time.

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