June 24, 2008

Wow! What a Nice Chumby...I Mean Streaming Internet Device!

The other day I went to a friend of mine's office and he started showing off his Chumby to me. Now as I.........okay that didn't exactly sound right so maybe I better start over. The other day I went to a friend of mine's office and he showed me his Chumby Internet Device. I'd have to say it was pretty impressive and quite unique. We know the Chumby has been out since late last year but this is the first time we actually found someone using it. Basically the Chumby is a wireless internert device that's a tad smaller than your typical alarm clock that streams content to "widgets" on the device.

The device is capable of streaming radio, news, weather and a lot more. I didn't get to spend much time with the device so I'm not quite sure how I'd use it but I'd assume it would set next to my computer and serve as a background tool while using my main computer. The Chumby might also be a great beside table device to keep an eye on your late night Ebay auctions. We'll work on getting a review unit to give you more of a detailed look but we wanted to let you know the Chumby is a pretty cool device.

Here's a few more details from Chumby.com:

What's a chumby?

The Chumby is a compact device that displays useful and entertaining information from the web: news, photos, music, weather, celebrity gossip, webcams, sports scores - using your wireless internet connection. Always on, it shows - nonstop - what's online that matters to you.

How does it work?

Just plug it in, connect to your wireless network, and use your computer to choose a playlist of "widgets" (the bite-sized applications that run on a chumby - check them out on the Browse Widgets page). And if, say, you want to see news, the surf report, and traffic in the morning, and animations, web cams and eBay auctions at night, you can group widgets in "channels." Watch constantly updated info, or use interactive widgets that take advantage of its touchscreen or motion sensor. You can even share widgets and send ecards to other people's chumbys.

With over 600 widgets across 30 different categories such as weather, social networks, photos, sports, news, entertainment, videos and much more, you'll find lots of stuff you'll love.

The Chumby is bit pricey at just under $200 but with a touchscreen and motion sensor, this just might be a cool little device to have around the house or office.

At Chumby.com

Chumby at Amazon.com

Read More in: Audio Streaming | Internet Radio | Wireless Music

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