The acceptance letter to the "First 50" is going out this weekend.

These are people chosen to be be beta testers, from folks that signed up on the front page of the website.

How that program goes will affect the official launch date.

They're going out as email.

We got a pretty big response - on the order of thousands. I suspect that those folks that weren't picked will get an opportunity in the next round.

Can you let us know when the letters go out to see if we got in or not instead of waiting for a long time for a message to come?

Oh well, "the thrill is gone..."  Congrats to all of you first 50.  Don't mind saying that I'm a bit jealous.

Please post photos and feedback on the forum as you go along on your mission.

Must...have...chumby....

Hoping that the first 50 goes smoothly, so I can have a nice hot steaming bowl of chumbalaya as soon as possible.

Congratulations to the first 50. The green eyed monster rears its ugly head though!

shoe

I understand your points and I think it is probably time for a blogpost on the release date and availability in countries outside the U.S. Also, if we are able to purchase parts. I'm guessing the Chumbians don't know themselves or they'd tell us...be nice if they shared the reasons though, if they can, business being business and all...

However, some of us here see Chumby as being qualitatively different to just any other tech device. I'm not moving on even after 12+ months of waiting because the chumby is the one device that allows/encourages user creativity in terms of both content, hardware, craft and software. I am still curious to see what this device might become.

That's the ticket. A little communication goes towards making bad will. Most people will wait until even after the new year, as long as they know when the time comes their wait is at and end.

Don't cause people to be unhappy, life is too short.

Best of luck in Chumby Land.

Mitchell

Hey! Sorry I have been gone, I have been busy with school work! You get a LOT more homework in 7th grade then you do in 6th! I have to say, I almost bought the new nano yesterday. I am going to try something different though, the chumby. I think that chumby is taking this long because they are making in rechargeble. I am going to have to wait and see, if the chumby is rechargable I will buy it in a heart beat, if it's not, I might go with the nano. But, I am keeping my hopes up for the chumby.

Any update on the launch date for the general public? 

I hope this happens soon, both to see the user community grow and to keep the buzz on this product 'fresh' (most of the news, blog spots, etc. on the device go back 6-12 months).

I think you're setting yourself up for a fall if you think it will be rechargeable.  No one has been promising that.

There are a lot of issues to deal with on a new product roll-out.  If someone forced me to guess, closing contracts with content providers would be mine.

For example, Apple likely had the iTouch chomping at the bit to get released, but it had to wait until the iPhone got its glory, which all hinged on AT&T (the inventors of beuracracy) getting their act together.