Would you like to have a Chumby by your bed? or perhaps on your kitchen counter while you cook? Or maybe on your office desk while you do your um… work. OK.. so what the heck is the Chumby you might be wondering? It’s best described as a Internet-connected device which delivers information in the form of widgets.. and we mean a lot of widgets! You simply plug the Chumby in, connect it to your wireless network and then go to your PC to choose your favorite widgets. There are over 700 widgets spanning over 30 different categories - simply choose the widgets you want to run on your Chumby and then sit back and enjoy the content as it’s delivered to you via the Chumby.
The Chumby is potentially a great bedroom device because it comes with a customizable alarm clock. Wake up to music, news, or whatever! Other things you can do with the Chumby include listening to music/podcasts, viewing the weather report, viewing online photos, catching up with your friends via social networks, reading the news/entertainment/sports, viewing classifieds, and playing games.
For the geeks out there, the specs on the Chumby are as follows:
- 3.5 inch LCD color touchscreen display
- Two external USB 2.0 ports
- 350 MHz ARM processor
- 64MB SDRAM
- 64MB ROM
- Stereo 2Watt speakers
- Headphone output
- Squeeze sensor
- Accelerometer (motion sensor)
- Leather casing
- AC adapter included
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Over-the-air software updates
David Pogue reviews the Chumby over at the New York Times here and had this to say:
So how, then, do you define the Chumby?
Nobody quite knows, but it sure is a lot of fun.
You can purchase a Chumby here on their website for $179.95. There are three colors - latte, basic black, and pearl.
One last thought.. doesn’t the Chumby look like the old 3COM Audrey device? Hmm… a device ahead of its time?
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