The name of this device doesn't even begin to communicate what it does. If I hadn't been following the rise of "Internet appliances" through the more technical literature I would have missed it. Fortunately for me, Best Buy put it on sale for Black Friday, and most people did not know what it was. So when I came later in the day, this little gem was still available.
I think of it as a the all purpose kitchen counter Internet connection. It's something families have wanted since they realized how much information was out there, and how hard it was to get to it quickly. It has "apps" that allow you to quickly answer those questions you ask every morning. You can see headlines, your calendar for the day and week, and play the radio. My must-haves:
- Weather in the morning - I'll never forgive our local provider for cutting out "Local on the 8s" from their programming, but this compensates.
- Pandora Internet radio - radio stations that play only music I like with no commercials
- Headlines - Sports, news, finance, fashion news items that I can scroll through, or drill down into
- Calendar - even my Google calendar so I can see what is ahead for the day
- Photos - Gadgets that show Facebook photos, Flickr and Picasa albums, and pictures from the thousands stored on my home network.
There are 1500 apps available for this including recipes, YouTube,and many others. This "chumby" platform is open to new apps being developed, and these keep appearing. Most of all - the apps are free. Not 99 cents or a few dollars, but free.
This device is not perfect. Like most computers, easy things are easy to do, and more complicated things are harder. It took me a few hours to figure out how to make the viewer see my photos on my home network. Looking at photos on Flickr, Picasa or Facebook was a snap. Streaming my iTunes library through the device is taking a little more configuration.
If you don't have much patience with configuring devices to talk to wireless, or connect to the Internet accounts for social network, email, calendar, etc., you might want to get some help from someone who is Internet-savvy like Momisageek. An experienced expert can zoom through those tasks that might take you hours to research and complete.
Did I mention the touchscreen? The fast response? The great-sounding audio audio? The crisp clean display? The alarm clock? The $99-169 price?
For me, this is the biggest hit of the Christmas gadgets for 2010. I've already bought two, and am shopping for more. You can find these at Best Buy branded as the Insignia Internet Viewer and as the Sony Dash Internet viewer
No matter what room of the house you put it in, it will be a hit.
Gadget Girl says: It stays. And it is my top pick to gift this Christmas.
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