Thursday, December 03, 2009

Chumby is your friend!

Chumby One

I just received my Chumby One yesterday and all that you hear is true-- you cannot help but love the little information device! After setting up Chumby on your wireless (or wired) network, you simply visit the Chumby site to both activate your device and to choose from the list of applications to install.

The adding of applications to the Chumby takes place via your Chumby's personal page on the Web site. Here you add and customize (if necessary) the widgets. It could not be any simpler! The applications cycle through, each staying on the screen for the time you have determined in the set-up. There is also a large button to push that both allows you to pick a certain widget to show, but also allows it to stay on-screen if you wish. Some of the widgets are interactive, like the Twitter widget which allows you to tweet using an on-screen keyboard and the sticky-note app which allows you to leave notes to yourself. You select items from the screen using the tip of your finger or your fingernail (or a stylus), and it works easily.

In addition to the 1500+ widgets you can install, the Chumby also allows you to choose from a list of streaming radio stations and podcasts that can even play in the background as your widgets cycle by. Of course, there are lots of clocks to select from, and there is a nighttime setting that dims the screen or even shuts it completely off if you want.

If you want to see how to set it up and how it all works, simply visit their FAQ page.

Here are the specs from the Chumby One page:
  • 3.5 inch LCD color touchscreen
  • Access to free chumby content
  • Uses rechargeable lithium ion battery (not included)
  • USB 2.0 high-speed port
  • Stereo headphone output
  • 2W mono speaker
  • Volume knob
  • FM radio tuner
  • Accelerometer (motion sensor)
  • Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11 b/g)
  • USB Ethernet compatible
  • Over-the-air software updates
  • Dimmable backlight
  • 454 MHz ARM processor
  • 64 MB DDR SDRAM
  • 2 GB internal microSD card
  • AC adapter included
  • 3.5" wide x 4" tall x 3.5" deep
  • $119.95 with free US shipping