Topic: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Looks pretty neat!
Looks like the Dash had a twin brother (fraternal mind you...)

Tell us all about it Duane!

I like the fact it has a CF slot too.
Will it mount a network share to display pictures?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/12/insi … y-sony-da/

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Well, since, it's now public, this is one we can talk a bit more about than we could with the Sony dash.

* Marvell PXA168 ARM9 at 800 MHz
* 128MBRAM, 2GB on a replaceable SDcard
* 800x600 true color display with resistive touchscreen
* microphone
* stereo speakers plus headphone jack
* 2 USB 2.0 ports
* Slots for CF, SD, SDHC, MMC, MS, MS Pro Duo, xD memory cards
* Supports  AVI, QT, Motion JPEG, MPEG4, H.264
* Supports MP3, WAV, WMA (except DRM), and AAC (except DRM)
* Supports photos and videos over UPnP, as well as Photobucket
* Supports SHOUTcast, blue octy radio, Pandora, New York Times Podcasts

This device is more similar to existing Chumby devices, in that it's totally modable, you can easily get a shell, and many of the existing Chumby Classic and Chumby One "tricks" will work.  There are no territorial restrictions beyond those of the regular chumbys (ie. Pandora will only work in the US).

As far as the software is concerned, the Control Panel is more photo-oriented than alarm-clock-oriented.  The alarm subsystem is very primitive compared to conventional chumby devices (only one alarm similar to the "quick" alarm). However, it has very deep functionality for photos and video - you can upload photos from a CF card directly to Photobucket and create and send photos and widgets to your chums/friends.

I'm not sure what engadget is talking about when they call it a "dead ringer" for the dash - it has completely different hardware and software, even a different processor architecture.  I wouldn't even call them "brothers" - at best, cousins.

3 (edited by BoloMKXXVIII 2010-06-13 03:18:14)

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Awesome! I will pick one up as soon as they are available. For me this is much more attractive than the Dash as it is not a closed environment. The price seems quite fair too. Other than the alarm issue, can you tell us about any other limitations compared to the Chumby?

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Specs look great!

What version of Flash will it be running?

Is there FLAC support?

Any GPIO or other low level?

Is the brain entirely in that 80's plastic housing on the back? Is it "detachable" from the front housing/screen? I assume there might be a bit of ribbon cable and power between the two. I'm thinking wall mount or surface embedded applications.

I actually like to see the resistive touch screen here. While you give up multitouch you gain stylus and maybe accuracy. This would be good for some detailed applications. However, as a photo frame in the age of "i" I think people assume they can pinch-zoom on everything.

Any chance I can get an external DAC working over USB?

Is there enough room and flexibility on the board to add an ethernet port on the back of the case?

Is there a realtime clock?

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Well, at the moment, it doesn't have as many audio sources as the chumby, but that may change.  From a hardware standpoint, it does not have the accelerometer, FM radio or battery, but then again it's a different kind of device where those aren't as important.  It's not a tablet computer.

Compared to the dash, it doesn't have the rich set of commercial video services (Netflix, Amazon, etc) since it doesn't support the DRM those services require, which is why it's still an open device.

Some of the widget authors might have to take a look at some of their widgets since the screen is now 800x600, and the CPU is significantly faster.

When all is said and done, it's probably as close to a "big screen chumby" that people have been asking for as one is likely to see.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

It's running Flash Lite 3.1.7

I'm sure there will be a hardware teardown at some point very soon, once a hacker picks one up. While we did design the electronics, we didn't design the housing, but yes, the circuitry is on a board in the lower back, connected to the display through ribbon cables.

One thing that's particularly interesting about the processor is that it's an ARM9, but implements WMMX instructions - this is because Marvell bought Intel's XScale division and this is processor is part of that legacy.

7 (edited by pounce 2010-06-13 07:35:04)

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I'm ok with giving up the commercial services to get hack-ability! Don't take my questions as any sort of criticism. I'm just digging to see just how many presents are under this Christmas tree smile

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

pounce wrote:

I'm ok with giving up the commercial services to get hack-ability! Don't take my questions as any sort of criticism. I'm just digging to see just how many presents are under this Christmas tree smile

+1

"giving up" DRM is like giving up being flogged. Losing the FM radio is no real loss either. Not sure how I feel about losing the battery but this thing has me excited. Christmas in June/July!

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I wonder when and if Europe will ever get these?  We're also unable to stream Pandora, Netflix and so many other U.S.-centric apps  sad   

I love my new Chumby One, but I find it difficult to read some stuff (like News feeds) on the small screen.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Duane wrote:

Well, since, it's now public, this is one we can talk a bit more about than we could with the Sony dash.

Thansk for the info!

Duane wrote:

As far as the software is concerned, the Control Panel is more photo-oriented than alarm-clock-oriented.  The alarm subsystem is very primitive compared to conventional chumby devices (only one alarm similar to the "quick" alarm). However, it has very deep functionality for photos and video - you can upload photos from a CF card directly to Photobucket and create and send photos and widgets to your chums/friends.

I'm not sure what engadget is talking about when they call it a "dead ringer" for the dash - it has completely different hardware and software, even a different processor architecture.  I wouldn't even call them "brothers" - at best, cousins.

Yea, I thought that too, but I guess they are both the same color and larger screen (compared to the chumby). I guess they are close as a Ford F150 and Chevy 1500, they are both 1/2 trucks and have four wheels...LOL

So can the Insignia (by the way, is there a pet name (i.e. IronForge)for this device) mount a network share (w/o stupid software (like the Kodak frames make you use) to dispaly picture off your network.

I would love a Chumby Networked device that could see a SMB or windows share and be able to access that share/drive and display pictures from it.

Thansk again, Matt

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

harmlessgryphon wrote:

Personally, I'd rather have a hang-on-the-wall Chumby with a 13" screen.


Me too, if it could mount a network share to pull pictures from. Then I would hang it on the wall in the kitchen and have a info/media hub...

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

The codename for this device was "Silvermoon".  We didn't do the industrial design for it, just the electronics and software.

It supports UPnP, so you can stream pictures from a local server.

I've updated the wiki with some info on this device, as well as which of the current hacks apply.  These devices also support additional hacks that will be documented over time.

There is a design for a tablet variant of this called "Sunfury" that was displayed at CES, however, we don't currently have any plans to ship it.  You can see stuff about it if you do a Google search - it was just a design study, though I've been playing with one for a while.  The whole tablet market is seriously messed up by the iPad - as soon as you mention anything with the "T" word, a bunch of people jump down your throat about it - frankly. we don't need the grief.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

You mention UPnP support for pictures and video but not music.  I sort of assume that if it supports UPnP for pictures and video it will handle music as well.  Can anyone confirm that?

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

This seems to include a video of the Infocast in a prototype form from earlier this year http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/18/chum … -mwc-2010/

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Looks like the BestBuy model number for the Insignia Infocast [Silvermoon] is NS-DP8CH

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insignia+-+ … 1&lp=1

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I just noticed how close the two USB ports are to each other. That could be a problem if you are using some of the "fatter" USB drives (like Patriot Voyagers).

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

You can always use USB extenders if the ports are too close.

I'm likely to get one of these.  This might inspire me to teach my Hacking Chumby class again later this summer.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Skipuppy wrote:

You mention UPnP support for pictures and video but not music.  I sort of assume that if it supports UPnP for pictures and video it will handle music as well.  Can anyone confirm that?

Not in the first release.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Responding to questions about GPIOs and such: There is a small cluster of pads by the SD card that provide some GPIO pins as well as I2C with .1" spacing.

There is a very good chance you can get an external DAC working via USB wink

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

ChumbyLurker wrote:

Responding to questions about GPIOs and such: There is a small cluster of pads by the SD card that provide some GPIO pins as well as I2C with .1" spacing.

There is a very good chance you can get an external DAC working via USB wink


Very nice. Thanks for posting this info!

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

unwiredben wrote:

This might inspire me to teach my Hacking Chumby class again later this summer.

*Like*

Brian, #1 Joan Jett Fan

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

Was at the local best buy today. They had two of these devices on the shelf listed for $999.99. I told the girl at the counter that I wanted to buy one but the price was wrong. She scanned the box and it did in fact show as $999.99. I asked her to check their web site and she did. The price listed was $169. She checked with her manager then pulled both units off the shelf and took them in the back. She said they were not supposed to be out yet.

Tar, feathers, congress. Some assembly required.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

The "$999.99" price is how Best Buy marks products that they have delivered to the stores and aren't supposed to have on the shelf yet.

The same thing happened with the Sony dash, except that, in one case at least, the checkout person adjusted the price to match the website and sold it anyway.  Some other folks posted on blogs that the price of the dash was $999 and ranted about how Sony had greatly overpriced the product.  For instance, read this Engadget thread.

24 (edited by pounce 2010-06-20 18:16:52)

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I picked one up today. smile

Ok, first impressions...

Fugly, but not as fugly as the pictures might have you believe.
Fast. Gloriously fast.
Plays FLAC's. Even 96/24.
The touch screen is not sensitive enough for my taste out of the box. Will need to see how to adjust this if possible.
It has a battery onboard for RTC
Could not figure out how to play video from the USB
The USB ports are recessed too far. This could cause some trouble for USB memory sticks.
Did I mention it's fast?
The Pandora interface is much better than the Dash.
Sound is OK. Better than the Dash. I'm puzzled why any product design would have stereo speakers pointed up on the back of a device.
Looking forward to trying a USB DAC tomorrow (iBasso DAC is at work)
After another look it's still fugly.
Have not looked to see how to get SSH yet.

My recommendation is to go and get one of these (so I can try out the friend functionality wink)... but seriously, I think this is going to be amazing from a hacking and product point of view. I'd like to see FL4 on here.

Re: The Insignia/BestBuy branded Chumby

I've updated the Chumby Tricks section of the wiki to cover this product, including starting sshd.