Often at home I use different devices and media to get different info at different times. Some examples:

I cycle to the train station as part of my commute so I often want to check the weather. I may either look on my imac downstairs before bed in the evening or sometimes I may have forgotten and so I use the mobile BBC weather site on my Sony Ericsson k800i if I am upstairs already.

I often listen to music in different parts of the home as well. In the kitchen we use the iMac, in the lounge I plug my iPod into the surround sound system and elsewhere in the house I use the iPod with a set of portable battery powered speakers. (I have thought about wireless speakers but never found the reason compelling enough to justify the financial outlay).

Now there are gaps in my consumption of media. How to get a decent weather forecast wherever I am without having to boot up the iMac? How to have an alarm clock that plays more than just radio or “beep-beep”?

So along comes chumby! I will leave you to go and look at the site for more info but it is basically a clever little blob thing that does loads of stuff like show photos and get info from the Internet and play music etc. On the surface it may be a bit scary - a Linux mini computer. Not the best spec for normal people to latch onto. However, if you think of it as a media device in the home then it feels very different. Also they have done a clever thing in the aesthetic design in that it is like a little beanbag. This probably helps for all the times you will drop it but it also makes it look nice in the home - very important to my wife this bit. I can imagine it looking nice on my bedside table as it wakes me up with some rocky music and then shows me the weather report for today. I can equally imagine it in the kitchen with some recipes widget, or on top of the TV in the lounge to play music and show photos.

The other point is the price - a device like this has to be cheap otherwise you might as well buy a laptop or a big iPod.
It costs $179.95 which is great as that is only £90 by current exchange rates!!! This is less expensive than the posh remote from Logitech! What a bargain. Let’s just hope the interface isn’t horrendous!

I will leave it there but I would be interested what other people think of it. Add your comments below.

In case you haven’t seen it, they have now unveilied the new London 2012 logo. To say it has caused a stir would be an understatement.

As of this morning there were 66 Facebook groups setup to oppose the logo.

The BBC poll for people’s opinion on the logo had 54% saying it won a wooden spoon instead of a gold medal.

There is also a petition which you can sign and join over 14,000 other people so far.

There are numerous competitions to come up with other logos which are producing some great looking results.

Our opinion on this logo is not really important. However, what is a shame is that this was a great opportunity to have a nationwide competition to design the logo. Firstly this would have demonstrated the wealth of design talent within Britain. Secondly it would have cost significantly less than the reported bill of £400k.

I read a good article in Mac Format this month. Barry Morse wrote in to comment about the new advertising campaign by Apple. You know, “I’m a mac, and I’m a PC”. In the adverts, the Mac is presented as a cool, trendy, “normal” type of guy. Whereas the PC is portrayed as geeky, bumbling and a little confused!

Barry Morse highlights how Apple users are a proud bunch who love their Macs! We agree that Apple is one of the world’s best companies for driving innovation whilst maintaining excellent usability and solid systems. However, the new adverts, though funny, do employ a sense of childish playground taunting. Barry Morse and Mac Format show the need for Apple to “Move on. Become like most people who choose to use an Apple computer - professional.”

Following on from this, I was gracefully reminded that the “world’s best company for innovation” also released some hideous products!

This article contains the Top 10 Apple products which flopped. It’s good to remember that even super-powers such as Apple have some embaressing products they’d rather not associate with their brand!

Adobe have unleashed their latest software suite - CS3. There is a huge range of updated software from the Adobe family and the recently acquired Macromedia family. Adobe have now also combined thier design software with their web development software.

We in the office are pleased to hear of the new release as our boys who have Intel based Macs will be able to run Adobe products natively on their machines!

www.zoom.in.com have a great article about the best new features of Photoshop CS3!

Read their article here

I ’stumbled upon’ this great site today. The simplicity in comparison to You Tube is very different but I like the refreshing design on Stumble and it is a great way of seeing what videos are out there.

StumbleVideo

Techcrunch have a great article about the small group of bloggers who met up with Bill Gates to quiz him on the future of DRM. The bit I loved was how he talks about the look on Mr Gates’ face when he enters the room to see all the elite bloggers working on a mac!

Other bloggers involved were Steve Rubel, Molly Holzschlag, Ryan Stewart, Niall Kennedy and Liz Gannes.

I saw this article and it made me think. I have heard of Shazam before from our work with Orange and on the surface these feel like great little services.

However…….
I am dubious about how many of these ‘great little services’ will become ubiquitous enough for us to even remember they exist. The thing is this: I hear about loads and loads of new services all the time but do I use them? Not really. There are only a very small proportion that are of a real regular benefit for me to remember them and normally this remembering only happens if I have used something many times.

So in 5 years time, how many of these ‘great little services’ will still be around? And is there an opportunity for someone to build something that houses all of them? I suppose that’s what Google is for!

I know everyone has probably seen this but I thought it so good I had to show it. I love the way this artist has taken something traditional and pushed it to the next level.

The artist is Julian Beever, an English guy who’s famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, USA, Australia and Belgium.

I know there is probably noone who wants this but I think it is pretty cool! If you checkout the link below, you can download the Digerati Studio browser toolbar. It has some cool features like email alerts and weather forecasts as well as the standard search and of course a link to our blog!

download the Digerati Studio toolbar

P.S. If you are really interetsed you can create your own toolbar just like us - checkout conduit.com

Just a quick post about this great site I just found out about through moneysavingexpert.com. The website basically finds filler items to help you avoid paying for postage when your basket doesn’t quite qualify for Super Saver delivery.

Amazon.co.uk Filler Item Finder website