If Chumby, maker of this rugby ball-sized computer by the same name, has its way, then it will replace all of our bedside digital clocks with a stripped-down computer stuffed in a cuddly exterior case. Apparently the Chumby is designed to be a little hackable nugget that will play Flash applications (known in Chumby-speak as "widgets") that can do various other things like (you guessed it): play music, check your RSS feeds, and display your photos. Inside this little furball is a 266 MHz CPU, 32MB SDRAM, 64MB Flash RAM, 320 x 240 3-inch screen, two USB ports, 2W speakers, and WiFi. Basically, it does everything that your regular computer does (except smaller and a little slower), but it comes in a fuzzy little self-contained box so you can snuggle up to it at night and have it try to read Engadget quietly to you while you sleep. That is, when they're actually available to the public.

[Via Dyl World]