The iPod touch knocks up a hacky sack and has a baby – meet Chumby
The life evolution of iPod touch jumps the track and produces Chumby, the platypus of web-enabled touch devices. Like a forbidden mashup, the unholy communion of the iPod touch and the popular bean-filled footbag has produced a quirky new breed of web-enabled touch devices that make you say WTF as you fall hopelessly in love with its cuddly charm. Chumby is about the size of a cup of coffee and makes a perfect bed mate for your night stand, or even a desk pal at work; always within sight and just a touch away. Chumby’s squishy, Italian leather body features a color touch screen, audio, and built-in Wi-fi all running on a Linux-based operating system with Adobe Flash. Chumby comes loaded with widgets that deliver Flickr photos, weather, stocks, sports scores, news, internet radio, video, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, email, and on and on and on. Heck, you can even play games with Chumby, and not just hacky sack, either. Find out more about Chumby after the jump.
From the moment Chumby wakes you up in the morning, it keeps you connected to your digital life, hassle-free. Getting it up and running is a snap. Once you activate your Chumby, simply plug it into the AC and let it connect to your Wi-fi network. It’ll soon start streaming the internet to you. You control the content and widgets you see on your Chumby by signing into your profile on the Chumby web site. You select all the widgets you want and then configure them to connect to your various accounts for email, messaging, social networks, etc.
The Chumby is also an open platform making it easily extensible for developers, many of which have already been busy making new widgets. There are a ton of widgets to choose from and many more on the way. Creative developers can take advantage of Chumby’s unique features like its motion sensor and squeeze sensor to produce interesting ways to interact with it. Browse the list of currently available widgets to get a sense of what Chumby can offer.
There’s also an active online community springing up around the Chumby where owners share ideas. Check out the Chumbysphere and see what people are saying about the Chumby. You can also view photos of Chumby in the wild. Chumby is available only from Chumby.com in latte, black, and pearl colors. In our eyes, $179.95 each is a downright bargain to have one of the coolest, and unique, web-enabled touch screen devices available today.
Technical specifications
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Access to the free Chumby Network
- 3.5″ LCD color touchscreen
- Two external USB 2.0 full-speed ports
- 350 MHz ARM processor
- 64 MB SDRAM
- 64 MB NAND flash ROM
- Stereo 2W speakers
- Headphone output
- Squeeze sensor
- Accelerometer (motion sensor)
- Italian leather casing
- AC adapter included
- Dimensions: 5 1/2″ wide, 4 1/4″ tall, 3 1/4″ deep at the base, and 2 1/4″ deep at the top
- Currently available in black, latte and pearl colors
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