Intro
I’ve created a Chumby widget to act as a basic remote display for XBMC. I’ve been using it and reworking it over the last couple of weeks and I think it’s now in a state where I can make it available for others to try. It works by retreiving an RSS feed from the Xbox that contains a list of the next 5 tracks in the music playlist. If no music is playing, the RSS feed will be empty. To achieve this I’ve written a simple web page that sits on the Xbox and uses the XBMC API to retreive information about the current playlist. The widget also uses XBMC’s http API to provide basic controls to play, pause and skip tracks. This is my first attempt at using ActionScript so the functionality is fairly basic, but if others find it useful I may add more features, or release the sourcecode.
Continue Reading »
I’ve been monitoring the Chumby project since I first saw the device on an episode of Diggnation over a year ago… Kevin had been given one of the alpha prototypes at FooCamp and gave a quick description. I’ve been waiting since then for the device to get a public release - I guess that shows the power of product placement even though I’m sure no cash had changed hands for it to appear on the show. People who know me or have read my thoughts on this before will know that I think there’s a lot of potential for an “ambient” device that provides up-to-date information from the online world without the user having to be sat in front of a PC. I was disappointed with the Nabaztag because of limitations with the user interface, but eager to get my hands on a Chumby as it seemed far more advanced. The Chumby was originally pitched as a new take on clock-radio for the internet enabled 21st century but I think that description groslly undersells it (and at $179, it’s an epensive way to wake up in the morning).
Continue Reading »