Tuesday, August 29, 2006 9:35 PM
If you haven't heard of
Chumby yet, you probably will soon. The name may be a bit questionable, but if cute's their goal, I guess they got it! The device has the following characteristics:
266 Mhz CPU - 32 MB SDRAM
- 64 MB Flash RAM
- 320 x 240, 3 ½” screen
- 2W Speakers
- 2 USB ports
- Wi-fi
- Ambient light sensor
- Pressure sensor (screen and case)
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It's essentially a touchscreen-enabled Flash player, but the coolest thing is that it is the ultimate hacker tool. You know that at it's low price ($150, and no monthly fees!) people would be clammoring to get Linux on it to open it up. As it turns out, it already runs Linux, and the cool folks at Chumby Industries have done everything that they can to make it hacker friendly. The hardware parts list is published, the schematic is Creative Commons, the software is open source. They actually
want people to make it their own! Imagine how much bigger the PSP if Sony actually embraced the huge hacker community instead of playing cat-and-mouse.
It's always on (like a PDA), and with built-in wireless, it will be a great way to communicate and share things. Microsoft is talking about their Sideshow technology (auxilliary display), but Chumby looks like it really gets it. Go ahead and play that game in full-screen mode -- Chumby is still online and handling VoIP, an instant messaging buddy list, a web cam display, or even realtime updated stats from the game server. I expect to see some really unexpected applications for this. With it's USB support (and so much more), the possibilities are way out there! Considering it's specs are cool, the service to get modules (mail, news, stocks, etc) is free, and it's completely open, this should be a big hit.