The original Chumby was the first Flash Lite 3 enabled device (of any kind) on the market, but was always difficult to pitch in terms of what it was exactly. People found it hard to work out if it was an alarm clock? a squishy toy? a game device?
Well, with the launch of the new “Chumby One“, the company seems to have taken all of that on board. From the looks of the new unit, and the marketing material released so far, it’s very much been revamped into something that people might understand a bit better, even if it doesn’t look quite as cool as the original.
The new Chumby One looks far more like a bed-side clock radio – in fact, they say right up front that “it’s an internet alarm clock”. Being pitched as a device that people understand, with the “additional” feature of being WiFi connected, means that people will have a starting context for what to expect from the device. The “Chumby” features are secondary and compliment the key features and add value, rather than distract and confuse the consumer.
I think they guys have made a positive step with the release of this new version of the Chumby. Hopefully this will mean a better return on the investment already made in the platform, and have a flow on effect for sales of the original, and more “radical”, Chumby device.
Oh and by the way, the Chumby t-shirts are among the best and most comfortable I have ever owned! Buy them, and pre-order the Chumby One (for a discounted price of US$99.95), from the Chumby Store now.
