Dan Warne08 November 2008, 12:47 AM
If the idea of the internet connected toaster piques your interest, check out this amazing little squishy toy/appliance being released by broadband ISP Internode.
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's a cute, squashy, leather-covered internet radio, Facebook client, eBay monitor, digital picture frame and RSS reader… among many other talents.
Broadband ISP Internode has made the surprise announcement that it will start selling the previously US-only Chumby for $299 from this Wednesday.
The device is quite unlike anything else on the market: it's a Linux-based soft toy with WiFi built in that sits on your desk, or bedside table, and displays info pulled straight from the net.
Although it has a touch screen for basic configuration like WiFi passwords and simple interaction with onscreen widgets, you configure it all on your PC, after registering your Chumby's serial number at the Chumby website. You don't have to plug it in to the PC to make changes — you can reconfigure its widgets anywhere, as long as you have a net connection.
So, you could give your parents a Chumby as a gift, for example, and remotely update its digital photo album. It has widgets that can pull pictures from Facebook or Flickr, or a bunch of other popular photo sharing services.
It'll also auto-update its Linux OS, so you don't have to deal with arcane reflashing apps on your PC. Additionally, because it never touches your PC, it can work whether you're a Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, BeOS or Amiga user.
You can browse the available Chumby widgets here. Although many of the widgets are US-centric at the moment, there are heaps that are applicable to a worldwide audience. And Internode hopes Australian techies will build their own widgets for the device. Widgets are built in Flash, and there's instructions about how to build them here.
We tested it with a selection of widgets: an eBay auction monitor widget that you can use to keep track of an item you're selling or buying, a Facebook widget that shows your friends' latest status updates, a weather widget that can do Australian weather too, and the Chumby digital clock widget. They flip-over on the Chumby's screen at user-configurable intervals.
You can dress it up in a variety of outfits — a choice of three is available from Internode for $39 each — to assert your true geek personality. (Or you can get one for $30 if you buy it at the same time as the Chumby itself.)
Internode Managing Director Simon Hackett said that because Internode's key product was internet services, an internet-enabled device like Chumby was a perfect fit. "We have staff, and customers, that love cool gadgets," he said.
"We've been looking at the Chumby for a while. We felt that there was some mojo building up around it that suited out own mojo — and our own sense of fun.
"The Chumby is quite an unusual device. It was designed to be softer, and more organic, than the average Internet appliance. Its easy to use, and easy to like.
"It's an internet alarm clock. It's a widget player. It's approachable, and far less intrusive in your bedroom or kitchen than a laptop. It plays music, without pretending to be a hi-fi stereo. It seems to fit in nicely in all sorts of places."
Hackett said the company was working on a bunch of Internode-specific applications, including a radio player for the range of unmetered radio station streams Internode offers.
But he thinks Chumby will have wider appeal than just to Internode customers. He says other ISPs are starting to do the same in terms of providing unmetered access to content, which could easily be served up via the Chumby.
"We think a lot of people will enjoy the Chumby as much as we already do. If you have kids, plan on needing to buy more than one of them once they get their hands on it!"
Internode says it will be offering the Chumby with an Australian approved power supply, warranty serviced by Internode, and tech support. He said it would be sold via Internode's online store or people in Adelaide can pick it up from Internode's offices.
Inside Chumby
According to Wikipedia, Chumby was designed as "open source hardware", with "schematics, PCB layouts and packaging/outerware designs available" for people to download.
The system runs on a 350MHz ARM9-based Freescale i.MX21 controller (much like a mobile phone), has 64 MB of SDRAM and 64 MB of NAND flash ROM.
Its 3.5" touch screen is 320x240 resolution and runs at 12 frames per second. It has 2W speakers — not exactly rich with bass, but louder than is comfortable at their maximum setting!
It also has an integrated microphone, headphone port, two USB 2.0 ports, a "bend sensor" for squeeze-based user-interface features, and a motion sensor (accelerometer).
It runs a Linux kernel with Flash Lite 3, which allows for Sorenson and On2 video playback.
As much as the device has quite similar specs to an iPod Touch, Internode's Hackett says it's really an "anti-iPod" — rather than being a locked-tight device controlled with an iron fist and crammed into a shiny plastic case, it's a soft, leather covered, squeezable appliance".
People interested in buying one can register their interest at Internode's Chumby web page.