Chumby

If you cross an alarm clock, a picture frame and an Internet radio player with a gerbil, you would get the Chumby, possibly the least threatening-looking electronic device ever.It's a tiny computer enclosed in a stuffed leather pillow the size of two fists, but much less aggressive. The 6-inch LCD screen is touch-sensitive, and shows pictures, news headlines, games, incoming e-mail and other snippets of infotainment from the Internet.

It retrieves these goodies via Wi-Fi, so you need a home hotspot to use the Chumby. It needs to be plugged in to a power outlet, so don't start dreaming of using the Chumby as a squishy, $179.95 substitute for an iPhone. But it can replace your alarm clock, rousing you with podcasts, Internet radio, or music you load on a USB drive. It can play your iPod's MP3s through the built-in speakers. You can put it on the kitchen counter as a Web radio that shows pictures from your Flickr account when you're not listening.