Right in time for the holiday season, Chumby Industries released the Chumby 1, a newer and cheaper version of the original Chumby that came out a few years back. Like it’s predecessor, it offers a large amount of free widget content including access to web based services folks use on regular basis: Facebook, Pandora, and Gmail to name a few. So why does the new Chumby offer a glimmer of light to what could be the start of some mass appeal? Because (in my opinion) they did a few of the things I pointed out in my post from two years ago aptly named “The Chumby Dilemma”
First they made it cheaper. The original used to be $180 bucks, this new one is $120 shipped. I actually bought two of them on holiday promotion for $99. They’re right there on the price threshold now, $99-$120 is more than reasonable for all the great things the Chumby does.
Second, they changed the design of the enclosure making it seem like it belongs in rooms other than the bedroom (was never a fan of the pillowish enclosure). They put a battery case in it (battery sold separately) so you could take it around the house. Basically, they made it feel like a hell of a lot more than an internet alarm clock, which it is.
So while I’m sure this cuts into their margins a bit, they made the product more enticing and salable by changing the easiest things. The brilliance is truly in the software and Flash based channels and I hope they focus and continue to grow that. So go buy one, it’s a fantastic device that has a special place set aside on my kitchen counter.
By the way, people are doing some really cool things in hacking the Chumby. You can see a list of all sorts of mods and hacks here on this wiki page. A favorite is this one recently featured on Hackaday:
So your a mobile software developer/publisher working in Flash Lite and want to go to Adobe MAX, the leading conference in rich internet applications, creative and design solutions, and killer parties. But you live really far away and need a little help and incentive to get there. Well guess what? If you submit your mobile application you have a chance to be selected as a finalist and get a free conference pass!
I’m an industry judge for mobile and devices and expect to see some high-quality offerings like I have and years past. Please enter your app, all entries will be considered so don’t hold back, deadline is July 31st. I’ve heard on the Twitter-verse there are going to some game-changing announcements concerning mobile so this is not one to miss.
I’ve been selected as a Forum Nokia Champion. To paraphrase “Forum Nokia Champions earn recognition for having outstanding expertise in certain Forum Nokia-related areas, participating in various online and offline activities, and sharing and showcasing their knowledge with other Forum Nokia members”. This is a tremendous honor and I am pleased to be associated with such an elite program.
With the launch of the Ovi publishing platform coming soon, I expect Nokia to make big moves in retaining their status as leaders and innovators in mobile. If you’re a publisher, be sure and sign up today.
I recorded an onsite podcast from the 360|iDev conference with some great folks from the Flash Lite and mobile community. Emmanuelle Cipollini from Barefoot Software, James Eberhardt of Echo Mobile, and Dave Yang of swfoo joined me for a quick talk concerning this conference, Flash, and transitioning from Flash to the iPhone.
Some great news. I’ve recently been designated as an Adobe Community Expert for Mobile and Devices. This is a real motivator and after holding the torch for Flash Lite for a number years and it really demonstrates Adobe’s willingness to reward and recognize folks who contribute to the community. There are some great perks that go along with this and I’d encourage any lurkers out there to contribute since it does reap rewards at times. One easy way to get started is go register yourself in the Adobe Groups section and look for stuff in your area. One thing to note, the community aspect of Adobe’s offerings is much improved thanks to the efforts of Rachel Luxemburg.
There’s some exciting things going on with Flash Lite these days at Mobile World Congress, I’ll be covering them with some future posts. But in general look for some spirited content coming from me focusing specifically on Flash Lite and Open Screen Project in the near future.
Aptana has released a suite of plug-ins a few weeks ago supporting Nokia Web Runtime. I was able to load it into Eclipse on my Macbook easily enough and give it a whirl, though they offer their own IDE for those on PC. It’s a free donwload with a 30-day trial available here.
To set some expectations, this tool is not a substitute for the S60 Emulator which gives a more real scenario of how your widget will perform. But what it does do it give you a great idea of how all of your AJAX and DHtml will perform in real-time. I remember testing out some widgets recently both for business and for a talk I gave for Nokia back in October, and it was tedious using a browser for crude tests, let alone constant installs to the phone and S60 emulator. There were security issues as well as CSS formatting inconsistencies, not to mention certain Javascript functions that simply were not supported the same way you’d see it in a conventional browser. This tool really bridges the gap in those instances and I wish I had it months ago. Would have saved me loads of time.
As usual, your hardware will still give you the ultimate watermark of whether or not your code works in the runtime. Other things to note is that it supports a variety of Nokia handsets with different screen sizes, Flash Lite embeds, packaging and deployment to Bluetooth devices, as well as soft-key support. No 4-way navigation, though this is where the emulator comes in. Wonder how this will affect touch as more S60 5th Edition devices entire the product line.
Kudos to the Nokia WRT team for getting another useful tool out for widget developers
Picked up on this story via TechCrunch. Basically a bunch of kids from MIT built some mobile apps for platforms including Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian as part of a course. They got a little help from the likes of Microsoft, Nokia, and Google which all have offices and research centers strategically located right next to MIT. Interestingly enough no iPhone apps (Objective-C anyone?), but I guess Apple puts more stock in Stanford anyway.
First, these days, is 13 weeks really that fast? These platforms are built for rapid prototyping and launch, so 13 weeks isn’t that impressive, especially from MIT caliber folks who had help from the companies. Another observation is the application ideas. Sure they are interesting but there are no killer apps to be found. Wonder if they went cross campus to the Sloan business school and talked to entrepreneurs there.
I guess my point here is that this kind of innovation should be fostered at other programs, not just MIT. It would also be interesting to see a professional development program offered for folks not in school. And how about build an app in a weekend? You could do that with Flash Lite, the hardest part (as always) would be getting a good idea.
Back again for more punishment, we recorded another podcast in Harvard Square the other night. Great conversation and good atmosphere. Here’s the low down:
Members Rob Toole, Max Antinori, Scott Janousek, Ira Hochman, and Alessandro Pace give a recap of the MAX conference, cover new CS4 features, and the release of the Nokia N97. Recorded on location at Cambridge 1 in Cambridge, MA.
I had the opportunity to go back to my alma mater Boston College to go see Phil Schiller speak yesterday. Phil graduated from BC in 1982 and is Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, Apple Inc. Something tells me Phil was also in town for the BC-Notre Dame football game this weekend as well, but I digress.
In a nutshell, Phil’s presentation was excellent. Since it was mostly educators there, Phil didn’t try and spin a elearning context to Apple’s product, but he did touch on how the iPhone was changing everyone’s (particularly BC students) lives. Whether he was trying to sell the crowd on the iPhone or not, he got me. I’d been really thinking about getting one lately, particularly after looking at the SDK. The big epiphany for me was his emphasis on software being the most innovative thing driving the iPhone. The cell-phone industry had traditionally been so centered on hardware first and software last. Apple saw an opportunity here and entered the mobile market positioning the iPhone as a high-end device which was all about killer apps. And yes the iPhone as a device is still sexy, but lacks in camera, removable storage, etc… What I’ve realized recently is… who cares? Software is king and really allows for the fastest path to innovation, and who’s better at software than Apple?
Of the five questions asked after the talk, I asked him directly about Flash on the iPhone. As an aside Phil told me interestingly enough that they bought Flash will he was at Macromedia years ago over Christmas since they knew Microsoft would be on to it any day. But I got the vanilla Steve Jobs answer of “legacy video player, performance hog, not built for touch” etc… I could have pushed him on this here since all those answers are kind of a cop-out. There’s clearly an angle with Flash undermining their service delivery model for software. But there it is… that’s about as close as you can get to asking that same question to the Jobs man himself.
Don’t be surprised if you see an iPhone up in my banner soon.
Once again we have another interesting podcast with an all-star lineup recorded live from the Asgard Pub in Cambridge, MA. We went a little more guerilla style for this using my Nokia N-95 8GB but the quality is pretty good considering we were in a very loud and crowded bar.
Special thanks to Alessandro Pace from Biskero, James Talbot from Adobe, and Max Antoneri. Look for the next podcast coming live from MAX 2008 in San Francisco.
