Recently in Chumby Category

Laptop Magazine have published a review of the Chumby 8 internet device. 'When Chumby first debuted in 2009, it was decked out in fancy Italian leather, making it one of the best-dressed gadgets on the market. But with every release, Chumby has gotten a little less whimsical and a lot more functional. Instead of leather, Chumby 8 has gone plastic, with the front and subdued matte finish available in red or black. With regards to the screen, Chumby 8 is taking a "bigger is better" mantra, expanding to a spacious 8-inch touchscreen from the previous iteration's 3.5 inches. Chumby made sure to include some shiny accents, including two mirror polished side panels and the inch-long home button located on the top right corner. Both panels house built-in speakers, and the right panel also houses the power button along with a 4-in-1 memory card slot and a CF card slot, which is somewhat unusual. The base of the Chumby 8 contains two USB ports, the headphone jack, and the AC adapter port.'

PC Magazine have published a review of the Chumby One internet streaming device. 'While the original Chumby ($149.95 direct, ), with its soft and squishy casing had an undeniable "cute" factor, the all-plastic Chumby One sheds the padding and shrinks some to 4 by 3.5 by 3.5 inches (HWD)--it's less cute and more boring. With a thin blue trim around the front panel, the otherwise white Chumby One has a mono built-in speaker on the top and back panels, a single, multi-purpose button on its top, a volume knob on the right, and a 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD on its front face. There's also a built-in accelerometer, but I had trouble finding any movement that actually triggers it. The Chumby One comes with an AC adapter that plugs into the rear panel, next to the USB port, headphone jack, and power button. There is no aux input.'

A review of the Chumby Classic internet streaming device has been posted over at Tech Radar. 'At heart, the Chumby is a Wi-Fi internet viewer designed to sit by your bed or in your kitchen. You register your device on the Chumby website, then create your own channels from the 1,500 free widgets available. These include alarm clocks, radio streaming, Flickr picture viewers, New York Times news tickers, YouTube browsers, social network plug-ins and Flash games to name but a few. It sounds like it should be a sort of cheap and cuddly housebound iPod Touch, but the 320 x 280 resolution touchscreen, clunky interface and slow 12fps refresh rate make reading unpleasant, videos stuttery and games hard to play.'

Computeractive have published their review of the Chumby Wifi device. 'The device itself was easy to use. The touch-screen was small but responsive and there is only one other control, recessed into the soft top of the unit, which accesses the Chumby's menu. From here you can control the volume and display options and choose whether it sticks to one widget or cycles through lots of them. It had problems connecting to our wireless network, but we tried it on others and it worked fine. After that it connected seamlessly every time, although once it was switched off it took several minutes to restart.'

PC Advisor have published their review of the Chumby Classic nternet media receiver. 'The Chumby Classic looks like the sort of soft-play toy your well-meaning sister might buy your toddler as a present. The squidgy device resembles an oversized Hacky Sack with a screen. It's powered from the mains and is Wi-Fi-based. To set up the Chumby Classic you plug him in, and log on to your chosen network. With a responsive touchscreen you cycle through the required alphanumeric password details.'

CNET have published their review of the Chumby One Internet media receiver. 'When the first-generation Chumby hit our desk in 2008, it looked like miniature television made for infants. The design was round, soft, and squeezable, stitched together from leather and rubber. The Chumby One keeps the toylike aesthetic of the original, but strips it down to a leaner, lighter, cheaper design. But even though the hand-stitched Italian leather of the original lost out to a generic-feeling ABS plastic, the new model benefits from a faster processor (454MHz RAM), a built-in FM radio, a dedicated volume knob, 2GB of microSD memory, and USB 2.0. They've finally made it portable, too, with an optional rechargeable lithium ion battery (Fujifilm NP-120) good for an hour of use.'

Engadget have posted a review of the new Chumby One wi-fi device which displays useful and entertaining information from the web. 'For hardware, the Chumby One is in many ways a simplified Classic, starting with a complete and utter lack of stuffing (that's a good thing for mainstream users, we'd argue). Besides the battery cover, the base has a black antenna used for FM radio reception; we never bothered to even unfurl it and we were still able to pull in a variety of local programming in crystal clarity. Around back, you've got a 3.5mm headphone jack, power port, on / off button, loudspeaker, and just one USB port, down from two on the Classic -- you won't miss the second, unless you need wired Ethernet and iPod connectivity at the same time. On the right side, you'll find a welcome addition -- a dedicated volume knob, which means you don't need to hop into the control panel anymore and actuate the on-screen slider if the music gets too loud.'