This is the new Sony Dash, their new Personal Application Viewer.  It features a 7″ touchscreen and will have, at launch, access to over 1000 applications “including news, calendars, weather, sports, social networking” and uses a wireless network connection to connect to the Internet.

However, the interesting thing to note within the smallprint of the press release is that it says “The new product offers free access to more than 1,000 apps from chumby industries, inc. as well as the robust audio and video content from Sony’s Bravia™ Internet video platform”.  This is very good news for Chumby, who always envisaged providing a service for other companies, as well as producing their own hardware, which they often portray as “reference hardware”, ie samples of what could be done…

It looks like the Chumby widgets don’t fill up the whole screen (they do fill the whole screen on the Chumby hardware) leaving room around the side for quick launch links, and other features; time, date, weather and music controls to be permanently displayed.

“Within the device, an internal accelerometer supports vertical flip, allowing for two optional viewing angles: upright, ideal for a table or nightstand; and tilted, perfect for a countertop. It also supports multiple user profiles and channels, allowing several members of the household to create and maintain their own customized view of the Internet.

The dash personal Internet viewer also features built-in stereo speakers as well as a USB port for simple connection to a variety of external electronic devices. Additionally, a headphone output jack gives users the option to listen privately through headphones or through external speakers.”

No word on UK availability yet though, but it will retail for $199 in the US.

We’ve mentioned VEDA before, who are the official UK distributor (and are even listed on the Chumby US website), and they have now confirmed that as well as the Chumby, they are now in a position to sell the newer Chumby One (more information on this new device here).  Whereas they sell the Chumby for £139.00, the Chumby One sells for £109.95, although right now it’s a pre-order, as VEDA are still awaiting their initial stock.

At this stage, firebox are not yet selling the Chumby One, so if you want to purchase one without buying in US Dollars (and incurring import fees) from buying direct from Chumby, then head to VEDA to pre-order now.

Update: VEDA‘s stock has now arrived, so if you want a Chumby One, they are now in stock…

Although the Chumby has been available from VEDA for some while, a number of people have alerted us to the fact that firebox is now selling the Chumby too here in the UK.  At least one person pointed out that as a more recognised store, they were happier to buy from firebox than a company they had not heard of before, even with the backing and support of the site being listed on the Chumby website.

So, if you are after a Chumby, and would prefer to buy from firebox; head over to their site.  Hopefully both of these companies will be offering the new Chumby One soon (see here).

We’ve been a fan of the Chumby since even before it was available in the UK (you can get the Chumby either via Amazon US or in the UK from VEDA), and recently Chumby announced a new, slightly simpler unit, the Chumby One, which we briefly mentioned here).  Engadget have posted a review of the new Chumby One here, which goes into a fair bit of detail between the old (now called Chumby Classic) and new units. which includes:

• The Chumby One loses the squeezable button feature, the stereo speakers, one of the 2 USB ports, and is only available in White
• However, it gains an FM radio, a volume control dial, is smaller, has a faster processor, has more internal memory, and has support for a battery, and also seems to ship with a power adaptor and “prongs” for US, UK, Europe and Asia out of the box.

Of course, finally, the Chumby One is cheaper, at $120 instead of $200 (and is currently on sale at $100).  No news yet from VEDA as to when they will have stock of the new unit for direct shipment in the UK.

O2 have today announced a collaboration between themselves and PURE Digital, bringing PURE’s The Lounge Internet Radio streams to the O2 Joggler, and at the same time, reduced the price down to £99.99.  The O2 Joggler, if you remember, is a proprietary device offering access to a limited set of applications providing access to certain facilities (Weather, Road Traffic, News, Sports, local photo display, and messaging).  In fact, back in the March launch, O2 talked about Messaging and Internet Radio following in May, although only the Messaging support got added (and in June); so finally, they have added the Internet Radio support originally promised!

By working with PURE Digital, they are providing a “selection of the most popular UK BBC and commercial radio stations” (around 100 stations in total) out of the 12,000 or so available via PURE directly, although there’s no word as to whether the O2 Joggler also supports the listen again facilities of The Lounge.

O2 have also announced that the device will be upgraded from Flash 8 to Flash 10, and have announced an SDK will shortly be available to allow developers to create 3rd party application for this device, which will then be accessible to users via a dedicated App Store, which should be available before the end of the year (although based on pretty much all the timeframes so far being missed with this device, don’t hold your breath!)

Initially, the O2 Joggler App Store will only support free applications, which is probably a good move; and any developers interested in developing for this device should look at some of the UK specific widgets developed for the Chumby platform to understand what might work for the UK.  As a hint, Flickr photo display, Live UK train departure / arrival information, and BBC support would all help the device, not to mention apps such as instant messaging and Social Networking support, plus last.fm and/or Spotify support would help make this device sell better, and compete against the PURE Sensia and it’s own application support.

Of course, whether O2 would authorise all those applications is another story, but as the device does not use their 3G network (only the local broadband connection), there is little reason to limit the device, and support like this could in time make it a firm favourite with O2 customers…

We’ve been a little light on news stories this week, something I apologise for.  This has been caused by a number of reasons, including a few minor technical issues (for example, we’ve turned off the automatic tweeting of news articles on twitter due to a bug in this service).  However, one of the background changes will hopefully allow us to offer a number of new features soon, which I’ll announce when they are ready.

However, a few stories have caught my eye in the last few days, so I thought I’d cover them quickly…

Having had such great success with the Spotify music client on the iPhone, and it’s offline mode allowing you to download some playlists for use without a net connection, Spotify have now added the same capability to their desktop client.  Whereas the whole mobile client needs a Spotify Premium account to function, this offline facility also requires the same type of account.

As shown above, Chumby have announced a second unit.  Although it won’t ship until next month, it’s a little simpler than the current unit (which will remain on sale too), but will cost less as a result ($120 compared to $200 for the “Classic” Chumby).  One difference it will feature though, is an optional battery module, and we’ll bring you more news when it’s available.

In other news regarding American products, the news we covered back in July that the Amazon Kindle may be coming to the UK seems to have resurfaced in the last few days, with rumours that the device will be announced this month, with a deal with either O2 or T-Mobile.

Interestingly, when I wrote that article back in July, I also mentioned O2 losing their exclusivity on the iPhone, and that the phone may be available on at least 2 networks within “the next few months”; hopefully we may well see my prediction over the Kindle coming true as well!

After the release of the touchscreen based Revo IKON last month, PURE Digital have announced their first touchscreen based DAB radio.  The PURE Sensia will sell for £249, and is a DAB radio, Internet (Wi-Fi) radio, as well as supporting that 5.7″ 640×480 touchscreen display, which will feature additional applications too.

In terms of the music options, as well as the DAB radio (DAB and FM with RDS are both available), it features support for Internet radio and podcasts, access to your local media (via Wi-Fi), and “unique broadcast material”; and if you don’t want to have the unit by your bedside, you can add an optional ChargePAK battery for listening around the house, and make use of the colour coded RF remote control too.  In terms of colour options, you can go for Black, White, Red or Yellow.  If none of those music options appeal, you can connect an iPod / mp3 player directly via a 3.5mm socket, or you ca add the optional i-10 iPod dock.

However, it’s those “online apps” which interest us; so lets look at those.  So far, PURE have stated it will include Facebook support, Twitter support, and weather and news feeds.  It appears it will be possible to either have the application appear full screen, or just in the top right hand area, so you can still see the radio station list, the time, and access the other menus.

So given the close price to the Revo IKON, which should you choose? Well, the IKON seems to have a greater range of music options built in (with last.fm streaming support and a iPod / iPhone dock included as standard), whereas the PURE Sensia is closer to a Chumby-like device, offering access to other applications whilst the music is playing.  Of course, were PURE to add Spotify or last.fm support into their device, it might tip the balance in the their favour…

Both companies are known for producing devices capable of firmware updates, and both companies have produced firmware updates for various devices; it’s not yet clear whether adding more applications to the Sensia needs a full firmware update, but it will be worthwhile keeping an eye on how well PURE support this device in terms of new features.

You should find the PURE Sensia available at the end of October at £249.

Although we were able to secure a special offer with International Orders roughly this time last year, Chumby have now started shipping directly to the UK (along with a small select list of other countries).  This means you can now order this little device direct from the manufacturer.  However, it appears they are simply provided the existing unit on an export basis, so any charges associated with importing the device are down to the buyer, and the device may have voltage / power adaptor convertor issues.  On this last point, when we arranged the special offer last year, we had confirmation that the power supply would work in the UK, so it should just be a plug issue (although you’ll need to confirm that for yourselves).

Since the launch of this device, a good number of these devices have made it to the UK, and into the hands of developers, so there is actually quite a range of UK specific widgets already available, although we should point out that the Pandora radio station service is not available outside of the US.

If you are interested in purchasing one at $200, head across to the Chumby Store here.

We announced this yesterday via our Twitter account, so if you want some of our latest news, please follow us on twitter.

Update: As per the comments, Chumby have confirmed that UK orders will ship with a UK power adaptor.

Remember the Chumby we featured last year?  Well, the developers have kept working on the device, and it now supports Pandora Radio.  Even better, Chumby Industries believe in supporting their devices, and provide free firmware updates to allow new features to work on every device.  The addition of Pandora Radio helps to round off the device, adding to their previously supported iPod support (although they have not, and may not be able to support the iPhone or iPod Touch, due to the different way these products connect to computers), video support and general internet news and information resources.

Providing Pandora Radio adds internet radio support, although many users are still hoping that Chumby will be able to add last.fm support at some point in the future.

More information at Chumby.  As time goes on, more and more of these are finding their way to the UK, so there are now widgets for things like London Tube status, live departure information from most UK rail stations, BBC news / sports feeds, and don’t forget the UK Gadgeteer International Orders offer of a free power adaptor is still available.

We first covered the Chumby here back in 2007, however, it’s still not officially available in the UK. However, UK Gadgeteer has arranged for our readers to have a special offer at International Orders. International Orders are a Californian company, who, once you pay them will arrange for the Chumby to be shipped to them, and they will then onward ship it to you in the UK. Obviously this results in a slightly higher price due to their handling charge, and a second delivery, plus don’t forget you still need to factor in Duty and VAT as the Chumby comes into the UK, however, even allowing for all of that, you may well find the Chumby is still cheaper than buying from a UK seller who has already imported it. International Orders actually sell a whole range of items, although the Chumby stood out on the home page as something difficult to purchase in the UK.

We have agreed a special offer though for our readers; if you mention “UK Gadgeteer” in the notes field of your order, International Orders will include a UK power adaptor (to allow the US plug to work; the PSU is already 110-240V, so it’s just the physical plug problem, as we understand it) for FREE (normally just under $10). Although the website only lists a “European Power Adaptor” for the Chumby, if you clearly state in the notes that you need a UK power adaptor, they’ll sort it out for you.

Disclaimer: We have no commercial agreement with International Orders, nor have any experience of their services – please feel free to comment to let us know if you take advantage of this offer, whether there are any problems, and what the total cost is.