Chumby... the new empeg?

http://store.chumby.com/

http://wiki.chumby.com/

http://www.youtube.com/v/9U42Gapfm4M

OK, it'll need a little work but....

Hardware:
Chumby runs on a 266 MHz ARM controller. It has 32 MB SDRAM, and 64 MB of FLASH ROM.

The TOUCH screen is a 320×240, 3.5″ LCD with a backlight.

stereo speakers,
audio output port
microphone header on m/b
two USB ports, one internally connected to a WiFi adapter. one external
squeeze input, and an ambient light sensor
Modified linux 2.4.20 kernel.

Cute, can you squeeze it until it fits in a din slot?

Looks kinda cool. Think I might get one to mess with.

And yes, the thought did cross my mind - would it fit in a dash... Missing a few bits but it's pretty close.

I was also thinking along the lines of a Logitech Harmony 1000 type device.

A SlimDevices (Logitech) Squeezebox Duet + a NAS might make an interesting in car setup. Shame it isn't touch screen through.



I think I'll be sticking with my empeg for the foreseeable future thoungh.

Actually it's a 350MHz ARM9 and 64MB SDRAM:

350MHz Freescale iMX21 MC94MX21DVKN3 ARM9 controller Datasheet Technical Information
Samsung 64MB SDRAM on 32-bit data path
Hynix HY27US 64MB NAND Flash ROM
Three USB 2.0 full speed ports, one internal, two external
Xterasys 3135G 802.11g USB Wifi adapter (ralink chipset)
DataImage 320hx240v 16bpp TFT display with touchscreen
Texas Instruments TSC2100 Programmable Touchscreen Controller with Stereo DAC Datasheet
2W stereo speakers, with headphone jack
Built-in microphone
"Bend" switch
Kionix KXP74-1050 3-axis accelerometer Datasheet Specifications
STMicroelectronics STR711FR0/1 ARM7 "crypto" processor Datasheet
Soft-switch on power, controlled by crypto processor
TTL serial port @38400 8N1

Chumby is possibly a bit more hackable. The slim devices stuff does have some level of customisability though.

If you wanted to hack the Slim stuff and run your own code instead then all you need is the Controller as that actually has a DAC and a headphone socket. Storage is another issue though, as you'd be limited to just the SDHC slot, unless the USB port has master support I guess. I guess the lack of the touch screen would be a killer though.

I do love that this is the ssh login for my remote control though:

login as: root
[email protected]'s password:

This network device is for authorized use only. Unauthorized or improper use
of this system may result in you hearing very bad music. If you do not consent
to these terms, LOG OFF IMMEDIATELY.

Ha, only joking. Now you have logged in feel free to change your root password
using the 'passwd' command. You can safely modify any of the files on this
system. A factory reset (press and hold add on power on) will remove all your
modifications and revert to the installed firmware.

Enjoy!
# uname -a
Linux (none) 2.6.22-P7 #74 Tue May 13 11:40:33 PDT 2008 armv5tejl unknown

The Chumby looks interesting from the open source standpoint, but I don't really see what use it has. It seems to be designed as a device to fit in amongst your pillows, but it has no battery, so it has to stay plugged in all the time.

I don't know, maybe I'm not understanding their target use...

I've toyed with getting a Chumby, as it seems to have a variety of uses, but I've never really felt a deep need for any of them, so having them all in one place isn't really a motivating thing. I don't care for digital picture frames. I prefer my giant monitor and/or proper prints. I don't care for a little gizmo to tell me the weather or traffic, which I can get on my normal computer. I don't need anything more from an alarm clock than big digits that I can read without my glasses and the occasional annoying beeping sound. My 20-year old Sony does that job quite nicely, and I'll likely keep it until a power surge claims it, much like its predecessor...

The battery thing is a shame - I think that would transform it hugely. I suspect there will be a V2 with a battery if they stay in business.

I think the point of it is to play though - use your imagination...

For the electronics enthusiasts this guy has an interesting blog:
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?cat=6

Some discussions on chip forgery, automated assembly in china etc etc.

Yeah. I looked into this and was put off by the lack of battery and the lack of any actual use for it. The last time I looked, you couldn't buy it in the UK either apart from some guy on eBay for a large premium.

The use I see for it is an alarm clock that actually does what I want it to do.

I've been looking for years for an alarm clock that would ramp up the volume of the alarm over a span of thirty minutes or so, in order to rouse me slowly.

I'm very tempted to order one just so that I can finally have that feature. Not that it's apparently built in; I can't imagine you couldn't program it to do that.

My alarm clock sort of does that already. It goes blip quietly at first and a minute or so later blip blip and then blip blip blip etc... and after about 10 minutes it goes off.

Yeah, I have the alarm clock sorted. A diskless Myth frontend connected to a cron job that does wakeonlan, starts playing music and then ramps the volume up gently....

I was looking at these as 'ancilliary' controllers - maybe showing snapshots from webcams; email notification for 'important' emails; recipes in the kitchen sounds do-able on one of these; just having one to use as a tiny intelligent device would allow home automation to be do-able away from the home PC.
Asterisk client? velcro on a tiny usb webcam and you may have a video phone...

Ideally they'd be dockable - have a few cheap docks around the house; just recharging stands, nothing else - then you could pick it up to do stuff without a wire. So long as they'd last an hour off the dock that would be fine.

How easy is it to change the time tho?


The thing is... the Nokia N800/Nokia N810 would be better suited for all of those tasks than the Chumby. The N800 has a bigger/higher res screen, faster CPU, more RAM, more Flash, built in web cam, battery, SD slots and a FM tuner. It doesn't have the sensors though and is a bit more expensive.

simple...
Grab the keyboard from behind the bed.
Ctrl-alt-F1
login
ssh to the server
man crontab
crontab -e
edit the times (different for the weekend )
save+quit
logout
logout
ctrl-alt-F7

Job's a goodun.

Have to say, we tend to get up at the same time everyday. Can't think why...
I also use the loud "Wake the F*** UP" alarm clock for those odd 5am drives...


I think the Nokia is more powerful - the Chumby is cuter. And it's designed to be hacked - I appreciate that. And it's a lot cheaper - the Nokia is circa $600+ (retail in the UK) vs $180. Not really the same ballpark...

If it had a battery built in - even with docking - then I'd try hard to get someone to buy/ship one for me.

$600 is only for the N810. The N800 goes for around £130-150 in the UK. Play.com has it for £149.99 with free shipping. The Chumby will probably have the usual $1 = £1 thing going as well. Assuming it doesn't have that then a straight conversion to £ and then adding on VAT gives £108 which isn't that far off...

The Nokia runs Linux as well so you can do whatever you want to the software.

A docked empeg could also do that rather nicely..

But no one has a mlord dock in every room in the house...

he's bored and drumming up interest to make a batch of cherry-wood ones...

That would explain it, a clever marketing strategy

I'm guessing you don't hit "snooze" often.

In college, we programmed our HP calculators to do exactly that. Turn on the TV, slowly turn the volume up 'till we were awake. Had to use a backup by the bed in case we forgot to point it in the right direction every night.

And the other day my excuse was:
Sorry I'm late, the raid5 on my server suffered a 2 disk failure during the night so my alarm clock didn't go off...

doh!

Who'd have thought that when people ask if you have backups for your RAID system they really meant a clockwork one...

Ah. You should have had a regular cronjob that remotely triggered a robot to rewind a kitchen timer as a backup...

This might make a good start for a new empeg-like system.

http://www.tranquilpc-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Motherboards.html

Been reading slashdot?

It's a bit of a monster. The chipset still is the old stuff and draws heaps of power. But to be honest, in a car, low power is not exactly a priority IMO. A couple of amps (i.e. 20-30W) isn't much in the big scheme of things. It does mean bigger PSUs though.

Mini ITX is still way too big for a in dash machine. You need to be looking at nano-ITX or even pico-ITX.

I don't see that as a good fit at all. (my 2c)

It's still about the software, not the hardware. Anyone have a decent media system built for x86 and for a touchscreen car interface?

So far, my rather expensive experience into this area has proven the hardware is decent, the software still is, well, to be blunt, absolute crap.

Did you try Centrafuse?

Not a ton yet. Threw on the 1.47 version in trial mode, but it had several issues for me. Being that 1.20 is the last "stable" build and lacks Infill support, it looks like I may have to wait till 2.0 comes out to try a stable build and give it a fair evaluation. I also haven't reloaded Windows on the system to blow away Streetdeck yet, so who knows what cruft is there playing interference with CF.

I have to admit I'm not filled with confidence the long term plans of Centrafuse will be any better then Streetdeck though. Getting a stable build out should be a priority at least every once in a while. Continually iterating on tiny point releases adding misc features with no stability pass is going to eventually blow up.