Stuart Kennedy | November 18, 2008
DEPENDING on where you are coming from, the Chumby is a cute Gen Y digi-toy, an expensive, glorified alarm clock, or an example of the future of consumer computer devices.
US users are well served for news and views but there's almost nothing for Australian Chumbyites
It also has a pair of 2W speakers, a 320 by 240 pixel 3.5in LCD touchscreen and an audio out jack, all wrapped in a touchy-feely leather case.
Inside there's a 350MHz ARM processor, 64MB of RAM, 64MB of ROM, a squeeze sensor and a motion sensor so it knows when you throw it across the room after it has woken you up.
The gadget has been around in the US for a couple of years but the Chumby debuts here for the first time through local internet service provider Internode at $299 a pop.
The Chumby is filled with content using a PC and browser, but unless there's wireless broadband on tap in your home don't bother buying one.
Getting going involves punching into the Chumby homepage to register and activate the creature then selecting a bunch of Chumby widgets, which are instantly downloaded to the device.
The widgets are mostly mini-media applications adapted to the Chumby's touchscreen. There's everything from weather channels to internet radio to hard core news to simple games and weird and whacky stuff. Social networkers can hook into Chumbified versions of Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
Widgets can be grouped in different channels - such as weather, news, sports and entertainment, and the Chumby can be set to automatically step through each or play a particular one until told otherwise.
An alarm function allows plenty of flexibility in programming the daily wake-up and the gadget has a special night mode that dims the display so it doesn't keep you from slumber. There's a music player that tunes into various internet radio sites or streams music from a PC, or it can play unprotected music from a USB stick in the back. It can also hook up through USB to an iPod, but not an iPhone.
Americans are well served for widgets, with US news and views from the likes of CNN, Reuters and major newspaper sites, but there's almost nothing at the moment for Australian Chumbyites, although a generic RSS reader can tap headlines from your favourite local news outlet.
We liked the Chumby more for its potential than what it offers an Australian user right now and much of what the Chumby does can be replicated on a small, cheap netbook for not much more money.
Until there's a mix of local widgets for the device, it's more a $300 alarm clock than the future of bedside computing.
SPECIFICATIONS
Rating: 6/10
Price: $299
More at: www.internode.on.net, www.chumby.com