The new Chumby One model ditchesthe old beanbag casingfor a retro - clock - radio - urge on look and welt the price , though the internals are unchanged . It stay on a pretty frivolous gismo , yet I ca n’t help really liking it .
https://gizmodo.com/hands-on-chumby-wi-fi-widget-beanbag-cuddly-in-more-wa-359388
The Price
$ 100 for a limited metre , $ 120 afterwards . Includes international ability adapters and AC charger , but bombardment is sell on an individual basis . Starts shipping 11/25 .
The Verdict
It ’s the same questionably all-important yet unquestionably endearing Chumby , with a new typesetter’s case and a lower ( and very tempting ) price . I have no idea what its maker think the original beanbag Classic ( newly renamed ) to be used for , but the One is more than a little redolent ofold - school clock wireless . And if you attend at it as simply a badass clock radiocommunication , rather than an amorphous affiliated widget twist , you really treasure it . Imagine waking up to Pandora , then rolling over and checking your e-mail and Twitter before hit forty winks for another ten minutes of sleep . Awesome , right ? But what precisely has changed from the Chumby Classic ?
Instead of the touchscreen - in - a - beanbag look , it ’s now rocking a smooth white credit card casing with a vainglorious honking loudness knob on the side and a 3.5 - inch resistive touchscreen . I really care the design : It ’s playful and chunky and good charming . Some may be bummed that the One loses the beanbag look , which is kind of a signature of the personal line of credit , but I do n’t think it ’ll make that much difference . The Classic ( beanbag ) Chumby ask a baron cable so it ’s not like you could chuck it around , and luckily the fresh design is still distinctive and fun — and if you really want the beanbag , it ’s not going anywhere . The One is just joining the Classic , not replacing it .
The Chumby One does lose a few features found in the Chumby Classic — it only has one USB larboard compared to the Classic ’s two , and the formerly stereo 2W dual - speaker lot is now mono utterer with the same wattage . The speaker unit is observably more distorted and muddier , and could use definitely use improvement , although it ’s not horrible and is fine at down in the mouth volume .
But the Chumby One also attain 2 GB memory ( the Classic has 64 Bachelor of Medicine ) , a li - ion battery ( in add-on to AC ) and a dissipated processor . I did n’t notice much betterment in speed , but it ’s not like it really involve a whole quite a little of muscle to display weather and New York Times headlines . The Chumby One ’s screenland also seems sharper than the Classic ’s , and the overall package is short and narrow , though thicker . Chumby ’s selection of widgets , by the way of life , is quite good , with a huge survival of clocks , social networking services , tidings , RSS feeds , games and other fun lilliputian timewasters .
I ’m conflict about the Chumby One . On the one hand , it ’s wholly unnecessary — it ca n’t really do anything a modern smartphone with a sour grass ca n’t do well , and at $ 100 it ’s sort of expensive for an alarm clock . On the other script , I ’m undeniably direct with this thing . It does a good job deliver the meter , weather , news show and RSS feeds , running Pandora and inflame me up , and it look adorable while doing it . If you ’re comfortable dropping $ 100 on a little moldable cube of widgets for your bedside tabular array , go for it .
Awesome retro figure with blank and simple UI
campaign widgets commendable
$ 100 — substantial price cut , but not quite impulse - purchase district
Does n’t do anything your smartphone ca n’t
ChumbyreviewWidgets
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