Gadgets
Pandora Web Radio Goodness Now Playing On Chumby
Posted by John Mahoney at 4:15 AM on October 8, 2008
Everyone's favourite music-genome-powered web radio service Pandora is now officially available on everyone's favourite ambiguous-use plush-paneled Linux appliance, the Chumby. Fitting of their strategy to be on every hardware platform possible, Pandora can now provide soothing wakeup tunes (major key tonality, mild rhythmic syncopation, a good dose of acoustic guitar pickin') via Chumby's own alarm clock before you smash its vulnerable soft parts and go back to sleep. Full release following.
Discover New Music from Pandora on Your Chumby®
New Content Keeps Music Fans Engaged with Pandora Radio, Music Videos from Avot Media and News Headlines from Rolling Stone
SAN DIEGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Chumby is now giving music fans a new way to stay constantly connected to the music of their favourite artists, while also introducing them to new music they'll love. All chumby players can now tune into personalised radio stations from Pandora accounts and have Pandora set as the audio source for custom alarm clocks. Additionally, chumby users will now be able to search and view music videos and more from a music video widget powered by tipMotion from Avot Media, Inc., and receive up-to-the-minute music news and images from RollingStone.com, all without logging onto a computer.
"We know music is a big part of people's lives and fans want to have always-on, always-fresh access to their favourite artists," said Stephen Tomlin, CEO of chumby. "A benefit of buying a chumby is that the product is always improving as we add new content and features through automatic upgrades. Now chumbys can be used as radios for the Pandora service at no charge, so whether you bought your chumby months ago or today - you win."
Pandora is an Internet radio service that is now accessible through chumby. When you indicate a song or artist that you enjoy, Pandora responds by playing selections that are musically similar. You can provide feedback on the individual song choices to further refine the playlist to suit your taste. Your chumby can also wake you with your favourite Pandora station and let you listen to "personalized" radio all day.
"Chumby's innovative connected media player is a natural fit for Pandora," said Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora. "With Pandora now available on chumby, our listeners have even more ways to hear their favourite artists and discover new music."
Also available on chumby are music videos powered by Avot Media, a video formatting and streaming solution provider. Now chumby users can watch the most popular music videos each week, and search for thousands of popular music, entertainment, news, and sports videos on the most popular search engines at the touch of a button.
Chumby music fans will also be able to receive the latest news and images of their favourite bands through updates from RollingStone.com. In addition, Wenner Media, Inc., publishers of RollingStone.com, will also showcase content from other Wenner publications such as UsMagazine.com.
The addition of music content from Pandora, music video streaming from Avot Media and music news updates from Wenner Media complements the strong music and podcast offerings already on chumby, including thousands of AOL SHOUTcast stations, music news from MTV and VH1, and dozens of great streaming stations on Radio Free Chumby.

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Ash
Posted November 11, 2008 5:25 PM
You forget to mention in your article that, due to licensing issues, as of the 3rd of May 2007 Pandora Radio is restricted from being streamed to most countries outside of the US. I can tell you as an Chumby user that the restritcion is very well enforced.
I guess we'll all just have to wait for a Last.Fm widget...
Lite
Posted 5:38 AM 8/10/08
@jschell: Nope, the legislation was passed last week.
Lite
jschell
Posted 5:33 AM 8/10/08
um, pandora is on the verge of death, is it not?
jschell
RE-L
Posted 5:29 AM 8/10/08
I want a chumby.
RE-L
Lite
Posted 5:27 AM 8/10/08
Previously I had really wondered what good one of these things would be, and a clock radio capable of streaming audio from either my home collection or even better, Pandora, strikes me as a really good idea.
It doesn't require me to remember to dig my iPod out of my pack at the end of the day, walk upstairs first thing to dock it, change, go downstairs, remember that I need to go back and reset the playlist so that I don't wake up in terror, and then go about my business... I could wake up to a set playlist/radio station.
Now, will it survive when I accidentally knock it off the nightstand in a blind panic to hit snooze?
Lite
DisposableInterloper
Posted 5:26 AM 8/10/08
People still give a shit about the Chumby?
Wow. That alone is news for me, and I'm saying that honestly.
DisposableInterloper
Beta @ Random
Posted 5:25 AM 8/10/08
That's pretty cool.
Beta @ Random
jcrockerman
Posted 5:25 AM 8/10/08
I love my Chumby to death... but the net connection drops all the time...
jcrockerman
DustyButt
Posted 6:00 AM 8/10/08
I'd be exponentially more excited if Pandora made an app to operate on my TiVo.
Chumby... YAWWWWN.
DustyButt
Biscuitcleaver
Posted 5:47 AM 8/10/08
I didn't think the chumby's speakers were all that great. Of course mine was an alpha unit.
Biscuitcleaver
getz76
Posted 5:44 AM 8/10/08
@Lite:
It's pretty tough, actually. It'll take a minor beating without issue.
getz76
RE-L
Posted 6:07 AM 8/10/08
@bxstrb: I agree. It would be nice if they cut the price a bit.
RE-L
bxstrb
Posted 6:05 AM 8/10/08
I'd buy a Chumby...if it was $99. With my cellphone being able to do all the stuff this thing does I can't justify $179 for it.
bxstrb
vadubgeek
Posted 6:03 AM 8/10/08
Sweet. I like my Chumby, and now I've got another reason to like it. I like upgradeable devices.
vadubgeek
Strider-No.9
Posted 6:37 AM 8/10/08
I got a chumby looking at that. Me want.
Strider-No.9
Toshie
Posted 6:32 AM 8/10/08
And here's an actual link to Pandora since there isn't one in the story that isn't a 'Pandora tag'...
[www.pandora.com]
Sure, it only took me approximately 4 seconds to Google pandora and find the site myself, but dammit Giz, that's 4 less seconds of pr0n surfing I'll be doing today... :-(
Toshie
Invisobel
Posted 8:21 AM 8/10/08
Well I had two Chumbys yesterday... Oh its a radio. Nevermind...
Invisobel
blitzkrieg999
Posted 8:03 AM 8/10/08
This is the main reason I haven't bought a Chumby yet. Goodbye $200!
blitzkrieg999
bobbaddeley
Posted 10:03 AM 8/10/08
Chumby before Windows Mobile? What? ugh.
*waits impatiently*
bobbaddeley
JoshS
Posted 11:15 AM 8/10/08
I honestly have a Chumby and have yet to find a use for it.
Pandora's not bad though...
JoshS
rockhopper
Posted 10:41 PM 8/10/08
Chumby vs Logitech Squeezebox Boom.
Who wins?
rockhopper