Oh, really?  Meaning you open up the device and drill a hole in the front plastic and a hole in the rear of the cover to install the cameras?  You take 2 Chumbies and glue part of the screen of the second one around the edges of the first one to make it larger?  Dye the leather a different color yourself and make the designs with a magic marker?  Get that spare Chumby and then another one (3 so far... cheap?), remove the push sensors and shove them in your freak Chumby?  And last, but not least, recompile the kernel firmware to support all the extra functionality?

hehehe   All joking aside, the answer is no.  There's not that much glory, really.  You can't add any of those features by creating a widget... or two... or six. 

Hmmm...  Would that also apply to the larger screen?  I must confess that's probably the one reason that's making me have second thoughts about the Chumby.  The fact that its screen is the same size as my iPhone screen.

Chumby Industries has just released the Chumby to the general public after several years of preparation.  Currently it is the only device on the planet of its kind that does what it does and does it exceptionally well.  It has been compared to the Clocky, wi-fi radio and the wi-fi Nabaztag on the internet but the Chumby does so much more than these devices.  They don't even come close to what the current Chumby can do in its present state.  I feel that adding all these extra peripherals to the Chumby would take away the purpose for what the Chumby was designed to do.  These extra peripherals would make it a computer and I just don't want another computer.  I, personally, am looking forward to the accessories that Chumby Industries will be releasing in the future so I can customize my Chumby to my liking.  I believe the true appreciation of the Chumby is actually owning one, holding it. customizing it and seeing it in action.

Bob
Columbus, Ohio

I mentioned that size and resolution just to match what my Garmin 660 does, since that screen is not huge, but a nice size.  But I certainly wouldn't be tied to that size.  Just something larger than my iPhone screen and with a resolution to match.

As a small company, having multiple models in manufacturing is a big trap - you don't get the economies of scale across multiple SKUs than you do from concentrating on one for a while.

Even big companies like Apple introduce a single model of a new device to build the market and manufacturing scale, *then* diversify once all that's in place.

Actually you can't.
IMHO if you don't own a Chumby you aren't even qualified to make any suggestions on how to make a better bigger Chumby.

If you OWNED one you would know that the size of the Chumby is perfect for what it is. The size basis is that of a bed side table clock. A larger screen takes it away form this household handheld form factor. Personally I don't want a 3 pound chumby. You add all that crap to it and all of a sudden it isn't a chumby.
The idea that you are out here improving on something that you have not even held in your hand and experienced first hand is a bunch of baloney.
I suggest that you go back to the drawing board. Actually GET a Chumby. set it up and use it just like it is.
At that point you will be in a position to make suggestions on how to improve it.
I am amazed that you could come out here with this laundry list and you haven't even held a chumby.
Better yet you seem to be somebody who can get things done. go make your own version and come back and show it to us.
Like Duane said You could actually make any of those modifications you seek.
There is one problem though. in order to modify or even figure out how to modify a Chumby you need to OWN ONE!
If you really want this concept to succeed then support it by buying a Chumby and becoming a real member of the community. Making suggestions based upon real world experience instead of fantasizing about it.
Yaesumofo

Yaesumofo

Razor, this is an interesting post.  I do want to say I have a garmin GPS and several small wi-fi handheld devices.  I have trouble reading some of my smaller devices because of the print size and screen.  I will assure you that the resolution, screen size, print size, video and webcams are all very clear on the Chumby and I haven't had any trouble viewing them or reading them.  I thought I might have trouble when I received my Chumby but it hasn't been a problem at all.  I have read on the forums that some people think the resolution might be too low, but that isn't the case.  Everything on the Chumby is very clear and the color is excellent.  Your post certainly has sparked some attention.

Bob
Columbus, Ohio

I am glad to gear that you "Will" some day own a Chumby.
I really felt that your first post describing your fantasy Chumby was way out of line coming from somebody who had never even held one.
Would you send a description of your fantasy car based on a car that you haven't driven? I wouldn't.
IMHO it is somewhat presumptuous  that Chumby or the rest of the forum is all that interested in the ideas on how to improve a product which the person has NO experience with.
It is sort of like having conversation about a book but you have only seen the movie trailer.  It becomes a struggle to be able to talk about this book in any depth since you haven't read it. You only have some broad stroke ideas of what it is about in your mind. This makes it difficult to converse on an equal footing on this basis.

Lets be realistic if you did have some time with one even if you did not own one but say a friend did and you were able to borrow it and experience it first hand then a post of the nature which you sent the groups would for one thing likley be very different and for another possibly be more valid. Without the experience of using the device IMHO it is difficult to understand the chumby experience.
People ask me about it and I have a difficult time describing the overall experience because it is so unique.
The Idea of a fantasy Chumby coming from somebody who has never experienced "the real thing" is silly because quite frankly you have no idea what you are trying to fantasize about.

It is sort of like immature teenager locker room talk.
I stand by what I said.
I believe that once you actually have one to use and experience then your ideas about what the Perfect or best or what needs work will change.

Like I said get one. Then come out and tell share ideas on how to make it the best Chumby it can be.
Yaesumofo

Seems to me that making custom Chumbies for a premium price would be a small, but potentially profitable, niche market for someone who likes that sort of hacking.

(Not for me. I can barely hack an Easy button.)

But, Tommy, that's the point.  The Chumby+ (as I like to call it) is for those people who will pay that premium not to have to hack it and still have all the features they want.  Plus all those features will be under warranty as opposed to voiding your warranty the second you open your Chumby up.

You're missing the point.

There are some things that are hands-off.  You want it to do everything it could possibly do out of the box. 

There are some things that are created to be tweaked.  You expect to twist it around and tear it up and make it yours before it loses that electronics smell.

Chumbies are of the latter persuasion.

I myself haven't really looked at "warranty" because I've sort of assumed that any company that prints its circuit boards, publishes its code, gives the fab notes for the enclosure and features the mods that people have done to their product.  Further, I'll bet that if you posted "I'll give someone $100 plus the cost of hardware if they can hack a bigger display on my Chumby"  you'd likely get a couple offers...

...but I'll bet most of them would be along the lines of "Make it $300 and we'll talk."

The real problem with what you're asking is that the Chumby is sold at damn near breakeven.  Adding more features that nobody is going to use all of will either increase the loss that Chumby incurs or it will end up priced at a more reasonable market price.  And, by encouraging its userbase to punk around with such mods, Chumby Industries pretty much ends up enabling the functionality you're after without having to bet the farm on the fickle behavior of a customer who doesn't OWN ONE.  ;-)

Seth