Chumby

Your best internet buddy?

Best described as a large hacky-sack with a screen on the front, the Chumby is part of a new wave of connected internet buddies. We don’t even know what to call it. Sporting a 3.5-inch screen on the front, it doesn’t try to be serious like the Joggler – even though they have equally silly names – but is a lot of fun.

The screen provides touch interaction with the Chumby to play the games, play videos, flick through photos and so on, whilst a button under the soft leather top accesses the main menu and what there are of settings. One of the important settings here allows you to dive in and connect to your network.

The Chumby only connects via Wi-Fi which is great for many homes, but might not be so good for those who want to throw it into their office network for a bit of distraction.

Part of the activation process involves heading online and registering your Chumby through their website. This isn’t really a standalone device as the website is your access to all the available apps – and there are over 1000 on there and more being added all the time. Once activated, however, your Chumby is preloaded with a number of apps to get you started.

There is a default set of apps for UK owners, so it was nice to find that it was already picking up train times and the state of the London Underground. Of course you can add and remove as you please so you can make Chumby exactly what you want it to be.

Basically the Chumby will sit there and cycle through the apps it has on offer, giving you 30 seconds (or so) on each one. You can change the interval of each app, or you can choose to pin one so it stays on that app – great for waking up and checking the trains running from your local station. Did I not mention that? Yes, it will head off to National Rail’s live departure boards to pick up real-time info on your station – fantastic for commuters.

We customised it by adding in some technology news feeds, some fun games and other miscellany and the Chumby proved to be the ultimate distraction. A small dog licking the screen proved a hit with the wife, as did the bubble wrap popping game. And who could resist a quick photo gallery of rabbits? Everyone say ahh.

It’s the sheer randomness of Chumby that makes it so appealing. Sure, the novelty will wear off, but there is plenty of variety to give it a long lease of life.

But aside from the distraction and novelty items, Chumby has a more useful side. We’ve mentioned the London Underground and train times – of course you have weather in there as well – but you can hook up to things like Google Calendar and your Picasa or Flickr photos.

Google Calendar is a view only offering and a but rough and ready, so you don’t get the sort of polished, comprehensive, offering that you do via the O2 Joggler, but it was synchronised with iCal on the Mac and on the BlackBerry, which let’s face it, is the way that connected devices should work.

Around the back of the Chumby you’ll find two USB ports. These will let you plug in a USB memory stick or even an iPod that will then let the Chumby run off and find music to play (MP3, M4A, AIFF, WAV). It’s a neat solution as you can charge your iPod and playback music (with the iPod nano at least), but it is worth checking compatibility with your model before you fork out. The Chumby also has a list of internet radio stations so you can get some music.

The onboard speakers are better than you might expect and there is a 3.5mm headphone jack as well. There is a power button on the back to switch it off, with startup taking about 30 seconds. There is also a motion sensor built-in to control various apps and games.

So it’s all pretty much perfect? Well, not entirely. The touch is pretty good, but at times it can get a little fiddly, especially when plugging in your Wi-Fi password or selecting tracks. You do get used to it, but it isn’t as crisp an experience as you’d get from the latest mobile phone.

The style also won’t be for some either: Chumby will look out of place in your minimalist loft apartment but he’ll fit right into your chilled pad. In reality you could do it all on your mobile phone or PC if you’re being really miserable about it.

(Click to enlarge)

Sony HDR-XR520 review

Pros:

Very detailed HD footage. Crisp and clear LCD screen. Excellent in
low light

Cons:

Not cheap. Autofocus wobbles. Not for Mac users, yet

Life in the high-end camcorder market is hard. With pocket cams like the Toshiba S10 offering 1080p shooting for under £200, manufacturers increasingly need to add glitzy new features to pull in the punters. Take Sony’s new HDR-XR250, a Full HD cam that packs built-in GPS for the first time.

While it also touts a 3.2in touchscreen LCD and a not inconsiderable 240GB hard-drive, it’s this ability to track when and where you shoot movies and stills that marks the XR250 out as an exciting new flagship shooter.

Geo-tagging joy
Not only does the GPS find your location and display it on a map, it also takes into account time differences and will change automatically when you arrive in a new area. Best of all is the Map Index function, which allows you to find movies and photos on a map by touching the recording location.

The hard-up might be disappointed to see Sony pack GPS into a £1,300 HD camcorder loaded with manual functions and creative modes, but it’s such a useful and fun feature that it’ll almost certainly trickle down to more affordable models soon.

Storage, like no other
The XR520 main rivals are Canon’s LEGRIA HF S10 and Panasonic’s HDC-HS300, but neither gets anywhere near matching its storage potential.

The massive 240GB hard disk drive represents up to 101 hours of Full HD recording. It also offers hybrid recording, in this case capturing to Memory Stick PRO Duo if four days of recording isn’t quite enough.

Sony has decided to tackle low-light performance by giving the XR520 an Exmor R CMOS sensor. The claim is that this produces brighter images but with reduced picture noise. It’s a claim the cam makes good on: both indoors and outdoors low-light footage packs detail without jitter or noise butting in.

Sadly, it isn’t a lot of fun to use with a Mac. The supplied software is PC-only, while the AVCHD codecs used (MTS and CPI) mean you’ll need to download conversion software to get footage into an editing app. Currently, there’s not a lot of choice, though we used VoltaicHD.

High-end heroics
Still, for high-end camcorders the tale of the tape is the quality of the HD footage, and here the XR520 is a real knockout. Movies look exceptional, dripping with detail and vivid, yet realistic, colours. There’s even positive news from the audio, with a beefy, bassy performance.

There are a couple of minor niggles – the autofocus is a bit wobbly (though quick to reset itself) and while the touchscreen is beautifully crisp, it’s unresponsive on occasions.

But neither of these issues drag the XR520 down. In fact, its mix of features and video quality have set the bar for others to beat in 2009

Thanko PMP plays FLV files too

After a long time we have something useful from Thanko Japan. The DTLMP42G has a 2.8 inch screen supporting a resolution of 400×240 pixels. The unit has 2GB of onboard flash memory which can be further extended with a Micro SD card. The PMP can play majority of media formats including DivX (AVI) /RM/RMVB and FLV files ripped from online video websites along with MP3 / WMA and JPEG files. In addition to this it can record in WAV format. It connects to the host via USB for file transfer and charging. The battery is good for 4 hours of video and 10 hours of audio playback. The Thanko DTLMP42G PMP will sell in Japan from July 24 for 8980 Yen ($ 90).

Thanko PMP plays FLV files too

After a long time we have something useful from Thanko Japan. The DTLMP42G has a 2.8 inch screen supporting a resolution of 400×240 pixels. The unit has 2GB of onboard flash memory which can be further extended with a Micro SD card. The PMP can play majority of media formats including DivX (AVI) /RM/RMVB and FLV files ripped from online video websites along with MP3 / WMA and JPEG files. In addition to this it can record in WAV format. It connects to the host via USB for file transfer and charging. The battery is good for 4 hours of video and 10 hours of audio playback. The Thanko DTLMP42G PMP will sell in Japan from July 24 for 8980 Yen ($ 90).

Thanko PMP plays FLV files too

After a long time we have something useful from Thanko Japan. The DTLMP42G has a 2.8 inch screen supporting a resolution of 400×240 pixels. The unit has 2GB of onboard flash memory which can be further extended with a Micro SD card. The PMP can play majority of media formats including DivX (AVI) /RM/RMVB and FLV files ripped from online video websites along with MP3 / WMA and JPEG files. In addition to this it can record in WAV format. It connects to the host via USB for file transfer and charging. The battery is good for 4 hours of video and 10 hours of audio playback. The Thanko DTLMP42G PMP will sell in Japan from July 24 for 8980 Yen ($ 90).

Archos 705 WiFi Portable Media Player

On paper, the list of features seems inexhaustible. With a video player, music player, photo viewer, PDF viewer, web browser, the list goes on … let’s take a closer look at the Archos 705. With a relatively large size and weight, the 705 is better suited for the road traveler rather than the average user, who might prefer a more compact solution such as the Archos 604 player. Weighing in at 630 grams, it is quite the strain on your arm muscles.

Archos 705 WiFi Portable Media Player

On paper, the list of features seems inexhaustible. With a video player, music player, photo viewer, PDF viewer, web browser, the list goes on … let’s take a closer look at the Archos 705. With a relatively large size and weight, the 705 is better suited for the road traveler rather than the average user, who might prefer a more compact solution such as the Archos 604 player. Weighing in at 630 grams, it is quite the strain on your arm muscles.

Meridian introduces its new i80 iPod/iPhone dock

Meridian is set intro its new i80 with Universal Dock for iPod. The i80 hooks onto to the F80 music system seamlessly, giving you access to the music library stored on the iPod through the F80 remote control or its front panel buttons. The track info is relayed via the F80′s OLED display so you can view the playlist or song being played. The i80 also charges your iPod while it plays the music.

Meridian introduces its new i80 iPod/iPhone dock

Meridian is set intro its new i80 with Universal Dock for iPod. The i80 hooks onto to the F80 music system seamlessly, giving you access to the music library stored on the iPod through the F80 remote control or its front panel buttons. The track info is relayed via the F80′s OLED display so you can view the playlist or song being played. The i80 also charges your iPod while it plays the music.

G8 ACTA – Think twice before you share protected content

In a recently held meeting in Japan the G8 is pushing its member states to monitor ISP & Mobile traffic. They are working on a high level treaty called the Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in their national laws. Among many other measures, ACTA-based legislation will ensure that Internet Service Providers around the world are held liable for the downloading and uploading actions of their customers.