Continued »
Each year when the holiday season rolls around there are a glut of new digital photo frames that are introduced for holiday shopping. Digital frames are very popular gifts and this year Motorola has unveiled a completely new line of digital frames including the LS700, LS420 Duo, LS720D Duo, LS1000, and LS1000W.
Remember the Sony S-Frame DPP-F700 combination digital photo frame and printer? Announced late last month over in Singapore, the 7-inch WVGA display has just seen its official US launch, and it’s expected to arrive in stores in January for around $200. As well as displaying images on-screen – loaded either via USB or on a memory card, but frustratingly not wirelessly – the DPP-F700 can spit out 4 x 6-inch glossy prints for your mother-in-law to take away.
Video demo after the cut
Sometimes the most obvious answers are the ones you should avoid at all cost, else dwell in a gimmick pit for all eternity. Unfortunately that memo doesn’t appear to have reached TruView, whose Digital Photo Album actually mimicks the form-factor of a traditional album only with dual 8-inch LCD displays.
The HP DreamScreen takes boring digital photo frames to a whole new level. Not only is it sleek and stylish, it adds a brand new dimension to sharing your digital content. Get up to date Facebook status, watch videos, and listen to Pandora Internet radio right from the DreamScreen. The DreamScreen comes in two display sizes – 10.2 inches on the DreamScreen 100 and 13.3 inches for DreamScreen 130; priced at $249 and $299 respectively. Both feature a piano-black design with a flush glass widescreen display, 2GB of built-in memory, a remote control, WiFi b/g streaming and integrated speakers.
Video hands-on after the cut
If asked what’s the next big evolution in desk lamps, I can’t imagine many people would say “why, an integrated digital photo frame, of course” but that’s what Sungale have delivered. Over at Zatz Not Funny they’ve been playing around with the unusual desk accessory, and reckon that while it pretty much delivers what it promises, they can’t help but wish it promised more.
When Korean firm mintpass aren’t working on the mintpad MID, they’re busy at the design-board sketching out concept prototypes for your minimalist home. One of their most interesting designs – especially since they’ve talked about next-generation mintpads with larger displays – is the Mint Frame, a 7-inch touchscreen digital photo frame that not only displays pictures but, thanks to a 2-megapixel camera built into the back, takes them too.
We’ve been historically harsh on digital photo frames here at SlashGear, callously tossing out anything that lacks wireless connectivity. That given, we’re understandably interested in WonderMedia’s SmartFrame; while only a reference design right now, the touchscreen frame is apparently the first to carry that coveted “Compatible with Windows 7″ badge.
You don’t see a huge amount of development in cordless landline phones, so we’re hoping Sharp Japan’s new JD-7C1CL/CW makes it over to the US and Europe. A combination of a base-station unit with a 7-inch touchscreen 800 x 480 LCD and a DECT handset, the JD-7C1CL/CW not only shows your digital photos but can also show received faxes rather than printing them out.
Toshiba have announced three new digital photo frames, and we’re pleased to see that they’ve squeezed WiFi into them. The new range of “Digital Media Frames” consists of an 8-inch model, available in black (DMF82XK) or white (DMF82XWU), or a black 10-inch frame (DMF102XKU). Each can access the FrameChannel to download Flickr, Photobucket and Facebook galleries.
Considering you can find SD cards, PMPs and even fridges packing WiFi these days, it’s something of a surprise that so few digital photo frames include wireless connectivity. One such exception is the Sungale ID800WT Widget Photo Frame, an 8-inch 800 x 600 touchscreen display which not only promises to show off your holiday snaps – whether locally stored or in an online gallery – but YouTube, GMail and internet radio, too. Unfortunately, as Zatz Not Funny discovered, the reason so few frames include WiFi is perhaps because the manufacturers handle it so poorly.
JP
