How would you change Chumby?
By Darren Murph 
posted March 14th 2008 6:50PM
posted March 14th 2008 6:50PM
posted March 14th 2008 6:50PM
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I would change the colour to an origional black, add a multi touch interface, give it a lower case iChumby name, and put it in ads where it makes your life a 'whole' lot easier. Then I would change its shape and put a crippled mac OS on there so that everyone has to hack it to get full functionality.
Flash widgets? C'mon.. For something that claims to be so 'open', it would be better if it supported a more open format.
Agreed. Are there reasonably priced Flash licenses for individuals? $699 is insane.
lets see where to start...
* add configuration of custom radio stations via a web interface because programing in my local public radio stations (KNOW and The Current) is a pain.
* make the night clock a red and black clock that is less likely to harm your night vision. Also make it so I can customize the night setting. Its way to bright for me to sleep so I have to turn it away while I sleep.
* flash sucks, implement something better.
* a web based applet that lets you make your own little widget on the fly kinda like Leopard's Dashboard clips in safari work.
* WMA and RA support in the web streaming. Don't say you cant, because I know you can.
* larger screen, better backlight (bunch of little LEDs or just switch to OLED)
Flash sucks?
First of all they could sell it outside the US.... to EU for example...
I got one recently, and I mostly agree with some of the other owners. The most helpful changes, at least for me, would be:
1) More brightness levels. 2 levels, basically really bright and really dim, isn't quite enough.
2) An easy way to make the current widget stay on screen, or skip forward/backward to another widget, without having to go to the Control Panel.
3) Higher volume, especially for alarm. I'm a heavy sleeper, and the Chumby alarm *just* wakes me up, but is nowhere near as loud as my old alarm clock.
4) More color/brightness choices in all widgets. Putting this thing in clock mode, and having a clock widget that's mostly light colors, means the screen it a little too bright for bedside use at night, even when brightness is turned down to dim.
5) Better support for non-iPod PMPs. It should have at least basic support for any Mass Storage Device USB player.
Heavy sleepers do have the option of plugging a powered set of speakers into its headphone jack. $20 will get you a pretty loud set of Logitech speakers made for the Sony PSP that will plug right in. To wake the neighbors, run a line to your stereo... ;-)
Well as for the brightness levels, there are actually three, one of them is "off". Said option isn't accessible yet without logging into the chumby from a computer.
But adding control for this brightness level is planned for the next control panel release.
Personally, I just added a script to the chumby that checks for night-mode and if-true, turns the screen off. It turns back on when I exit night mode.
Its located here, fourth post down:
http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?id=1104
Make the hardware open source. Just deliver a box with the parts and let people build their own case around it. The beanbag housing is a piece of shit.
More buttons; I hated waiting 3 minutes just to see the weather because I was lying in bed and too damn lazy to reach over for it
Better alarm clock... When I got mine last year it didn't even have a weekday/weekend setting.
Better display. And by better display I mean anything better than the crap they put in this current version
Lower price... $179 is too much for anything you hope to sell a lot of. At $179 only a very small amount of people will buy one. At that price you can get an iPod and iPod alarm clock.
That said; Uninventing it probably isn't a bad idea.
I've had one for a couple of months. Authentication on a "guest" or "hotel" wireless that requires authentication is impossible, unless one uses another PC to clone the MAC address of the Chumby (which I do every time I lose my connection at work). I would put a small browser into the thing for just that kind of situation.
KidDoc
Make it blend/play DOOM!
I would give me one.
All gadgets suck unless I have one.
Give it a base station instead of a cord, and batteries when you pull it from the base station. A few hours battery is fine--just enough that you can use it on the couch and carry it into the kitchen, etc. Multiple charging base stations would be excellent. you buy one chumby, carry it around, and plug it in in other rooms -- if you want to.
Bluetooth for wireless speakers
bluetooth ftw
Sorry for the irrelevant post but somehow when I was going to change my picture it asked me for my passwork, I put in the one I always do to enter a comment but it won't work and there's not forgot password button, what should I do? THANKS
I also have a Chumby. I received one of 50 Beta units shipped last summer, so I have seen it evolve with firmware and software updates over the last 6 months or so.
I love the alarm clocks. The snooze function works well. The customizable alarms are great, I love waking up to music now.
I want it to sync with my iPhone, I understand that's a licensing problem, but I want it anyway.
I want more interactive capabilities with the internet. For example, I want a screen that I can browse and add/delete widgets directly from the unit, rather than having to log onto the computer.
I want an easier way to switch between widgets, rather than having to drop out to the control panel.
I'm glad I got it free, I wouldn't pay 180 for it, HOWEVER, they are still working on updating the software to add more functionality to make it a better value.
Ubuntu!
remote control!
I just got mine, so I haven't dived in too much, here are my thoughts:
-could have better support for downloading and building entire os image. currently it is on their site as like 100 different downloads and somewhat accurate instructions on how to put them together.
-main application is not yet open source. I want to tweak the alarm and widget downloader and I can't without de-compiling the main flash application.
-would be nice if it shipped with a few different use profiles. maybe alarm clock, network attached storage device, and programmable robot type controller. It seems they assume the community will take care of all alternate uses, and they probably will but it will take time without bootstrapping.
-the speakers need to be louder. this is almost a must for a second version. It is way softer than any $10 off the shelf alarm clock and doesn't wake me up.
-could pick up from other hack type projects. java on board like sun spots, or simplicity for extending like audrino. this is a nice to have though.
Lower the price, better supported battery based activity... that's all from me.
* Support for Adobe Flash Player 9 (really high priority)
* Ship to Europe
I -LOVE- my Chumby, and say so almost every day, but it's nice to think about making a good thing better.
An easier way to shift between widgets within a channel without going through the control panel would delight me.
Also, a way to set the timing of widgets within the Chumby interface would be nice, too.
it pretty much sucks, i wouldnt change anything, cause you would have to change everything. it looks like crap.
First I'd like to get my hands on one of them!
Let me know if you want to get rid of yours, I can't order one in the Netherlands!
thanks
I'm *still* trying to figure out what the hell to do with it.
Add a keyboard, a mouse-like device, a larger screen, make it thinner.. Maybe loose the power cord.. Oh, wait, laptop! XD
Touchscreen SUCKS
No Battery power.. Come on !
HI guys. I have had a CHUMBY by my bed side since Christmas.
When I first received it it was little more than a vaporous concept somewhat well executed.
Since then the Chumby has evolved DRAMATICALLY. As an Internet radio alone it is worth the dough.
Add to that a completely customizable user interface, Open source, something like 500 WIDGETS ranging from local weather to stock prices to the traffic in Paris to video of secure locations world wide to tide reports surf reports... Oh and LOTS AND LOTS of the coolest clocks you will ever see let along OWN.
I have mine to take me on a world tour of cool locations via web-cam right now I visit 50 countries and it takes a little over an hour. I put the BBC on in the background and all of a sudden I am transported away...
The chumby is fun it is evolving and cool beyond your expectations.
Get one. If you don't like it sell it on eBay. there is a ready market of people around the world willing to buy.
BTW Did I tell you it is an alarm clock too.
Yes it is set it to wake you up with the NPR morning broadcast along with a set of pictures of your family or folks or an image of the sunrise. Your imagination is the only limit.
Yaesumofo
Hi James.
You mention that you're listening to the BBC with your Chumby?
How can you do that since the BBC streams its audio only using RealAudio (sometimes WMA too).
Or were you referring to podcasts?
will it blend?
What the hell is a Chumby?
-OLED screen. The LCD screen makes a HORRIBLE alarm clock because even when it's dark it's still essentially "on".
-Give it an ethernet jack for heavens sake, I want to use it at work but can't get it on our WiFi network (damn you IT!!)
-Improve the touch screen. I don't need multi-touch but even the single touch needs to work better.
-OLED!!!
I would add a control for it to auto dim or switch off the screen at night. Other than that, all the other functionality is provided by the flash applications. Some of them useful, most of them just "bleh".
What is Chumby?
1. Obviously a battery backup would help it out a lot, but more importantly the alarm function is still screwy even after the huge firmware update. A $180 alarm clock should at least have a reliable alarm.
2. iPod touch/iPhone support would be great.
3. The ability to pick a certain song from your USB flash device for an alarm.
4. Networking still isn't functional enough. I'd love to take this thing to work but you can't use "$" or several other special characters for WPA2 passwords so I'm stuck using it solely at home.
All in all, I understand it is a work in progress and I can forgive it for its faults. I'm a Chumby lover and my girlfriend loves hers just as much. Yeah it's expensive, but I would spend $179 for this over the $120 or so for a philips LCD alarm clock with extremely limited functionality.
I think the Chumby needs to do its main task REALLY well, i.e. be an alarm clock. It ain’t doing that well enough for me. My idea would be to add a tuneable piezo electric sounder, tuneable so that it can get REALLY loud.
I also think it should have a simple cheap 3 axis accelerometer in it. Shake it when it sounds and the alarm will sleep. Hell ill even give u a part number: Analog Devices ADXL330.
I've had my Chumby since late '07. As far as I've been able to determine, my version doesn't have provisions for installing a battery. I'll have to check that. Here's what I'd change:
--At the very least allow the Chumby to function as a clock/alarm clock when it is out of range of a WiFi connection. If you can't connect to a wireless network the Chumby is basically a brick.
--Add web browser capability. I travel a lot, and was hoping to make this my new travel alarm, but whenever I check-into a hotel with "free wireless internet," I can't connect the Chumby to their network so I can navigate through the hotel's obligatory first page (or pages) to get onto the web. This sort of ties into my first suggestion. Even if a wireless connection is available, if you can't get through the pages you see at initial connection to a given hotel's network, you're not going to be able to do anything with your Chumby.
Night mode is more than dark enough for me. I should be able to specify whether or not I want the "Chumby 101" turorials to appear on the thing. "If your screen is black, your Chumby may be un-plugged" is more an insult to my intelligence than anything else! The same goes for the PSAs--let me decide if I want to see them. I haven't seen any of those for a while, so maybe those are a thing of the past now.
I love mine but it does need more alarm clock sounds. I've woken up to bird sounds for years and just can't seem to replace My alarm clock (as much as I'd like too). The Bugle sound is obnoxious!
You can make it wake you to any sound you want - as long as you put the sound file on a USB flash drive and leave the drive it plugged into one of the USB ports on the back. Although I'd be surprised if someone didn't have a way to put the sound file directly on the Chumby itself.
Ship it to the UK! I waited for 6 months for this to come out and then couldn't buy one..... Grrrrr!
*serious look on face* hmmmm.... *thinks to self "wtf is a chumby?"*
To Mensanmark:
The basic clock function is not supposed to be compromised, regardless of internet connection. If your having problems just hop onto their support chat room.
melt it
Well, having them available in Australia would be good... been waiting for months... :(
I agree that a bigger screen, and some sort of battery power option.
As for the price, well, its reasonable to have something this bloddy cool.. if they were like $50 every idiot would have one and they would not be so special!
awwwwwwww