Chumby widgets coming to connected HDTVs, Blu-ray players and STBs

If you thought Chumby would stop at digital photo frames, you were wrong. Dead wrong. Today, the widget-loving company has announced a tie-up with Broadcom that will integrate its rich media internet platform onto system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions that will eventually find their way into HDTVs, set-top-boxes and Blu-ray players. Essentially, Chumby is making sure it doesn't miss out on the quickly filling insert-your-connected-device-here bandwagon, and quite frankly, we'll be shocked if any of those other guys can rival what Chumby's bringing. After all, widgets are this company's forte, and we're downright giddy at the thought of having over 1,000 internet-connected snippets of information at our fingertips while intently watching future episodes of Lie To Me. Hey, TV / STB makers -- jump on this. Now. Video demonstration is after the break.

Chumby widgets coming to connected HDTVs, Blu-ray players and STBs

[Menos Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:46PM]

off topic, i know but i need all your help with something: ive been contemplating on getting a sony xperia x1i (yes. i. ebay. x1a sux.) and wanted to know if id be better off waiting for the touch pro2.

yes, i can afford it but im just not sure which would one id be better off with... especially seeing how long it took for the 1st touch pro to get here.

just thought id ask all the genious commenters on my most visited site :)

[billmiller Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:05PM]

Well...both of them have more or less the same features...just the conferencing feature with Pro2 which might be different not that X1 wont support conferencing. They run on the same ol' processor and same amount of ram so hardware wise they are the same. Both of them look damn sexy no doubts about it...tough task choosing. Yeah...the X1 is also made by HTC so similarities got to be there.

Pro2 has a larger screen (3.6" but same resolution on both) and new enhancements could be in place for TouchFlo. I think you could get a Pro2 with AT&T when it comes out.
Also, HTC is giving WinMo 6.5 upgrade on it too. So, probably you could wait if you're not in a hurry.

[Taylor Yes Taylor Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:08PM]

A thoughtful and helpful reply on engadget!? Weird...
Thanks, John Doe, for bringing some helfulness to the often flame-filled engadget comments!
-Taylor

[Menos Posted Feb 24th 2009 8:39AM]

i agree, thank you very much. i was hoping for a little more input but i guess chumby's not a popular... topic? should've waited for an iphone article i guess *rolls eyes*

in any case, thanks alot. very much appreciated

[Menos Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:47PM]

genious=genius

(dammit engadget where's the edit button already)

[Founder007 Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:52PM]

i guess i dont get the whole widgets on my TV thing...

When i watch TV, i want to WATCH MY TV

[kjb434 Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:40PM]

here here,

The last thing I want is another method for advertisers to use my TV.

I better be able to disable this feature if I get a product with it.

[Beamo Posted Feb 23rd 2009 3:29PM]

agree.
Its crap like this that is causing people to not be able to concentrate on anything for more than 2 minutes...

[jakem Posted Feb 23rd 2009 6:17PM]

Especially when it's BSG for frak's sake.

[KidDynamic Posted Feb 24th 2009 3:04PM]

HA! Yeah, I was TOTALLY stoked when he said "And look, you can hide the widgets for a fullscreen experience!" It's nice to know I can watch TV when I'm bored with looking at the weather or stock prices.

I kinda like that transparent widget idea, though. On the other hand, now the bottom of the screen is going to be even more busy, what with networks putting promos on there every minute AND widgets on top of that.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:53PM]

The thought of Chumby widgets available on my TV gives my widget a Chumby!

[newreformation Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:56PM]

So am I alone in that I watch TV while working on my laptop? If I want widgets I just glance down... why are widgets on TV needed?

[AbSoluTc Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:58PM]

This is the introduction to ADS on your tv! Welcome to technology. No thanks. They can keep their widgets. WTF want's widgets on their tv anyway? I have them from FIOS and I have only looked at them a couple times over the course of a year and a half. These companies really need to stop with throwing out whatever idea pops into their heads. Information OVERKILL.

[Taylor Yes Taylor Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:12PM]

Well, not EVERYONE watches TV with a laptop. Sure, lots of people do, but I didn't even have a laptop till recently. And plenty of people can't afford laptops, even amongst people who can afford a new TV (a TV is a family purchase, a laptop is usually a personal purchase). One thing is for sure, no matter what percentage of people watching TV are in front of a laptop, 100% of people in front of a TV are in front of a TV...

and @absolutc: Ads on TV!? Gasp! I've never seen an advertisement on TV before! I'd probably rather have widget based ads than 20 minutes of commercials in a 60 minute show, which about what we have now.
-Taylor

[billmiller Posted Feb 23rd 2009 1:56PM]

Will these widgets be able to stream youtube or any other video site's videos on to the tv??

[Taylor Yes Taylor Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:13PM]

Chumby widgets are pure flash AFAIK, so likely, yes.
-Taylor

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:42PM]

Wow! This is sooooo awesome!!!!

I was getting mad that the ads were only 20 minutes during the hour...now i get them all day! SWEEEEET!

[cyberholic Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:42PM]

Well, the only problem of 99% of the chumby widgets is that they just look aweful.
I can not even believe that the most right widget on that TV photo is the standard chumby clock.
Geeeeesus christ!
I would stop my I-AM-NOT-ALLOWED-TO-MENTION-IT-IN-HERE widget project if the
chumby widgets would be just as bold as the chumby-device itself is.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 23rd 2009 2:50PM]

"Damnit, Tyrol, it's not 68℉ in San Diego! Earth is a nuclear wasteland!"

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 23rd 2009 3:03PM]

Haha. It took me a second to get to the content of the post. I was like, "OMG BSG!!!.......oh, wait...something about Chumby"

[PeterFnet Posted Feb 23rd 2009 4:59PM]

OMG BSG!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting yet depressing watching the last episodes!!

[hungarianhc Posted Feb 23rd 2009 3:04PM]

My chumby is mostly useless. yet... I love it...

Although, there are some real issues. Before I even dig into the software, let's start with the hardware. Its resistive touch screen sucks. Especially when doing something like tapping letters on a keyboard. I would feel compelled to upgrade if there were a capacitive touch version.

And for the software, it's pretty rough... it often disconnects from my wifi, even when the rest of my computers / peripherals don't. Also, It is such a pain to set up an alarm! It wouldn't be too bad if i got up at the same time every morning, but my wake up time is determined by when I have meetings, etc, and changing it all the time is a real pain!

Also, it has a great feature that lets you use a podcast as an alarm. In theory, this is great - i can wake up in the morning to a daily NY Times podcast. awesome. However, I like to hit snooze a couple times. It's pretty annoying that every time you hit snooze, the podcast resets!

All those aside, the chumby looks great on my bedstand. It changes throughout the day between various clocks, photo frames, etc.

I think there's a lot of potential for a connected device like the chumby, but the kinks need to be ironed out.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 23rd 2009 3:11PM]

Looks like Anders is about to sneeze.

[mercuryinabottle Posted Feb 23rd 2009 9:34PM]

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