As we’d gotten a glimpse of before, our little Chumby has undergone the type of cute-to-sexy transition not heard of since late-1990s Britney Spears.
What’s now officially known as the Chumby8 features an 8-inch 800×400 LCD display, an overhauled user interface that lets you manage apps directly from the unit, and, most importantly, that sleek, swingin’ new design.=
You can preorder the $US200 Chumby8 here for April 5th delivery. Because your nightstand deserves to feel pretty, too.
San Diego, CA – March 23, 2011 – chumby industries today announced the release of the chumby8, the much-anticipated next generation chumby device. Officially launching on April 5, the chumby8 is priced at $US199 and available today for pre-orders at chumby.com/store. With a sleek new design, an 8-inch LCD touchscreen, enhanced features, and over 1,500 free apps, the chumby8 delivers a personalised stream of your favorite apps in addition to serving as a digital photo frame and music player.
“The chumby8 truly marks an evolution of the chumby device and software platform, creating a more personalised and user-friendly Internet streaming device that will complete any connected home or office” said Derrick Oien, CEO of chumby industries. “We’ve taken the time over the past year to listen to chumby fans and owners and incorporate their feedback into the new chumby8 and created a great multi-purpose connected device capable of tailoring to all.”
New features of the chumby8 include:
New, modern industrial design available in black and red. customised skins available from Skinit
8-inch 800×600 touchscreen LCD
Two USB ports, CF and SD slots make it possible to upload pictures, music and other personal media of your choosing turning your chumby8 into a personalized digital photo frame and music player
New web browser support, allows you to access links within apps
Revamped UI and streamlined navigation allows you to manage apps and channels directly from the device. The chumby8 comes preloaded with ready-to-play themed channels showcasing the best chumby apps in entertainment, news, humor, games, kids, sports and more
Updates to share features make it easier to send photos, videos and apps to friends and family
Robust Internet radio offers over 10,000 internet radio and podcast stations, including Napster, Pandora, SHOUTcast, iheartradio, Mediafly, New York Times and CBS, with more to come.
Full alarm system allows you to wake up to your favourite music stations and apps
Task scheduler allows you to perform a routine task on your device like entering night mode at a certain time or playing music.
Flash Lite 4 update to support AS3 coming soonThe chumby8 has access to over 1,500 free applications- ranging from music and social networking sites, news and entertainment gossip, to video clips and sports scores.
Content is available from well-known media sites including: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MTV Networks, Groupon, People.com and many others. Users can monitor their social networks, view and share their photos from sites like Flickr and Photobucket, watch sports clips, play games, or choose from a multitude of clock applications to display on the touchscreen device.