Do you still remember the highly hackable Chumby range of products? Some interesting projects that involve Chumby in the past include running a game of Quake on it, as well as hooking up an external VGA display. Having said that, for those who still have no idea what a Chumby is, it is an Internet-connected touchscreen display that can double up as a smart alarm clock, internet radio, and weather forecast device, among others. The company behind the Chumby folded last year, so existing Chumby users are left with limited functionality, working pretty much as clock radios that have Internet access for the better part of one year. Chumby’s Duane Maxwell offers a ray of salvation with the Chumby service, which enables users to gain access to more than a thousand apps.
Of course, this particular Chumby service is not going to be free – Maxwell is not running a charity here. Those who are curious or interested will have to pony up $3 each month to subscribe to the full set of apps. This amount of money is required because the new owner, Blue Octy, is a whole lot smaller compared to the Chumby Industries of yore, and it has no venture capital to rely on, hence users will have to be the ones to fund the service.
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