It's good to know some gadget designers remember how to have fun. Chumby, which goes on sale this month for less than $200 at chumby.com, is a powerful little device with Wi-Fi, a 3.5-inch screen and an interface that you can customize. It's also covered in leather and has something called a "squeeze sensor."

Like the iPod Touch, Chumby plays music and has a crisp touch screen, but unlike an iPod its underlying technology is built on open-source software that is ripe for tinkering. Chumby owners are encouraged to create and share programs, or "widgets," that run on the device. To date, there are about 50 small widgets that do things like display weather information, show the latest YouTube videos and fetch images from the photo-sharing site Flickr.

Target shopper burned in iPod scam

One shopper at a Target store in Montgomery, Alabama says he was cheated yesterday after purchasing what he believed to be an 80GB iPod classic for his daughter. Upon returning home and opening the box, however, his daughter discovered a used and scratched 30GB iPod video in place of the shiny new 80GB iPod classic pictured on the box. "How could this happen?" asked George Mardre, a confused and frustrated customer. "Target will not refund our money. They will not allow us to exchange it." After speaking to several customer service representatives, Mardre was told Target would review a surveillance tape and get back to him. "Meanwhile, my daughter is out $275," Mardre told MacNN.

Mardre recounted his shocking experience as he returned home after making the purchase. "Before I could get my tie off, [my daughter] called me in to show me that the iPod was all scratched up and was a 30GB instead of an 80GB classic.

Asus Claims Apple Tablet Is Real

CaptainCrunchyApple writes "According to cnet.co.uk the oft-rumoured Apple Tablet PC is actually very real, and on its way soon. CNET claims to have spoken to an anonymous tipster at Asus who claims to be working with Apple to produce the tablet. 'We're guessing it'll be based on Intel Core architecture, a tweaked version of Leopard, and have all the multi-touch, CoverFlow goodness we've seen in the iPhone and iPod touch. All this begs the question: Can Apple turn the Tablet PC into a success when previous attempts have failed? The short answer is 'yes'. Any company that can make a mobile phone with no buttons, no picture messaging, slow Web access and no video capture into the most desirable phone on the planet can easily make tablets popular.'" .