The Chumby system is based on a Linux kernel and applications are "widget-like", that is, they are small programs that provide very narrow functionality such as alarm clocks, news feed readers, Twitter clients, Internet camera viewers, and so forth. These widgets are all downloaded from the Chumby Network.   

The original Chumby also had pressure sensors in its beanbag housing allowing the device to detect being squeezed so you could, for example, switch off an alarm with a well-placed blow.

Fast forward to the end of 2010: The Chumby design has been licensed to a number of companies which have attempted to build on this platform. One of those companies, , just sent me their version, an .

Having forsaken the beanbag garb of its forebear, the Internet Media Display, priced at around $100, looks like any of the larger digital picture frames on the market sporting, as it does, an eight inch 800 pixel by 600 pixel touch screen surrounded by a wide bezel.

The Infocast based on a Linux 2.6 kernel and running on a Marvell ARMADA 168 800MHz processor uses 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi. It has an integrated microphone, SRS audio, and 2GB of internal storage.