Chumby

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Chumby is a device created by Chumby Industries. It is described by the company as "a compact device that can act like a clock radio, but is way more flexible and fun". Its design is open, including schematics, PCB layouts and packaging/outerware designs available in IGES and PDF format. The outside of the device is cloth and is highly customizable. Hacking is encouraged, and the system is modularized at several levels to enable both novice and expert hackers in a broad range of disciplines.

The primary intended use for a chumby device is to play a set of user-customizable widgets, small Adobe Flash animations that deliver real-time information. The animations also have the ability to control and interact with the low-level hardware, thereby enabling functionality such as smart alarm clocks that bring the hardware out of sleep, and physical user interface features such gesture recognition through squeezing the soft housing.

1 Hardware
2 Embedded Firmware and Widgets
3 Availability
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Hardware

The device runs on a Freescale iMX21 266MHz ARM9 controller, has 32MB of SDRAM, a 320×240 3.5 inch touchscreen TFT LCD running at 12Hz, stereo 2W speakers, an audio output, microphone input and a USB port, and will connect to your home network using WiFi. Chumby is powered by a 12V external power adapter, with a 9V internal battery for power outages. Stock sensors on a Chumby include a bend sensor for squeeze-based user interface features and an ambient light sensor. Plans for the Chumby also include a "Hacker Sensor Package", with motor drivers, A/D Converters, an accelerometer and digital inputs and outputs to make the device more flexible.

[edit] Embedded Firmware and Widgets

The product's website features downloadable "widgets" that are Flash application plugins to allow your Chumby to have new features and abilities, including a digital clock, a Flickr picture viewer, a panda cam, and Digg and Slashdot feeds.

Alpha Chumby units run on a modified Linux 2.4.20 kernel, with plans to update the device to kernel 2.6 in the works. Flash is provided by Adobe Flash Lite 2.0, with plans to upgrade to 2.1. With Flash Lite 2, the device will have a feature set like that of Flash 7, however, it does not currently support GIF or PNG images, and will not support Sorenson or On2 video playback. Chumby will support JPEG images, but not progressive scan JPEG images. Chumby relies on a modified bittorrent client to upgrade the open-source portions of its firmware.