Take a closer look at the Insignia Infocast, a touch-screen media viewer based around the Chumby widget platform.
Donald Bell
Donald Bell has spent more than five years as a CNET senior editor, reviewing everything from MP3 players to the first three generations of the Apple iPad. He currently devotes his time to producing How To content for CNET, as well as weekly episodes of CNET's Top 5 video series.
With a built-in Wi-Fi connection, the Insignia Infocast ($169) quickly accesses Web content like Pandora Internet Radio, Facebook, Photobucket, The Weather Channel, and more than 1,500 applications from Chumby Industries, all available without a subscription fee.
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On the right side of the Infocast, you'll find a headphone jack and grilles for the built-in speakers.
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The left side of the Infocast offers memory-expansion slots for formats such as compact flash, SD, MMC, and others.
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The back of the Infocast includes a power button, two USB ports, and a socket for the included power adapter.
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The Infocast serves up a smorgasbord of digital photos, news, Internet radio, social networks, alarm clock, games, and video, all customized just for you.
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One giveaway that the Infocast is more than just another place to dump your vacation pics is the Insignia-branded button that sits at the top of the screen. Give it a press, and you'll see a simple menu with five icons for apps, friends, photos, music, and video.
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Is the Infocast the poor man's Apple iPad? You can't use it to browse the Web or reply to e-mail, but at $169, it covers most the bases.
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The base of the Infocast, resting behind the screen, includes a large power button, two USB ports, power adapter input, integrated stereo speakers, and a headphone jack. In addition, there are two memory card slots allowing the Infocast to accept up to seven format types (SD, SDHC, MMC, Compact Flash, xD, MS, and MS Pro Duo).
