The last time we talked about Chumby, Stefan was ripping the company and wondering why the product even exists. I recently met with the company’s CEO and he explained how it is pivoting its strategy with things like the just-released Android app and while it’s not a slam dunk that it will be a success, at least now it has a fighting chance.
The original Chumby One was a geek’s delight: a hackable Internet appliance that could deliver things like Pandora all over the house. This was always meant for a niche audience though, as something like the Chumby-powered Sony Dash was meant for the mainstream.
The Chumby Android app is also meant to go at the mass market and this is primarily aimed at tablets with docking strategies like the Galaxy Tab or the Dell Streak. Once you’ve installed the $5 app and docked your tablet, the Chumby Android app can take over as a screen saver and deliver multiple ambient information from its more than 1,500 applications.
You can also just dive into the app when it’s in your hands and think of it as a major content aggregator and Pandora player all in one. The Android app is available now for $5 for devices running Froyo and above.
“As we are set to vastly expand our line-up of devices operating the Chumby software platform, we felt it important to kick off with the Android community as they are an incredibly dedicated user group who embraces open platforms” said Derrick Oien, in a prepared statement. “Additionally, new Android powered devices are constantly hitting the market allowing us to offer Chumby’s rich and personalized Internet experience to a broad and engaged user base.”
I also got a sneak peak at some of the upcoming hardware and it looked nice. Some of the roadmap goals also seemed very ambitious. I’ll be anxious to see how well this is received by the market. Feel free to download it and let us know what you think.