Archive for Wireless Digital Photo Frame
Posted on Mar 27, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:28 am
Digital Foci’s got a neat-looking new product, the Photo Book. The device is basically a portable digital picture frame, with an 8-inch screen, 4GB of memory, 2.5 hours of battery life, and support for all kinds of memory cards and photo and music files. What it doesn’t have is WiFi.
While no doubt a useful product in this incarnation, I suspect it would be even more useful with a network connection. As services like Flickr and PhotoBucket – and later FrameChannel – have proved, people want to be able to share their photos over the web. That functionality would be especially cool on a portable device like the Photo Book. Wouldn’t it be neat to get new photos streamed right to your backpack?
I suspect part of the reason for not including a network connection in this device is to keep cost down and battery life up, which are both valid concerns. I hope, though, that when Digital Foci looks to create Photo Book 2.0, they add in WiFi – it’ll be an even greater product.
Posted on Mar 18, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:20 am
South Korean portable media player heavyweight iriver has unveiled its P7 PMP and, when docked, it sure looks like an information appliance to me.
The device, which sports a 4.3-inch screen, an FM tuner, and can play all sorts of audio, video, and photo files, can be docked on a desktop and used as show in the picture to the left, or taken out of the dock and used on the go. It comes in four versions – 4/8/16/32 GB. The battery, iriver claims, offers 7 hours of life.
When looking at the P7 in its dock, though, it certainly looks like an information appliance: multiple data types on the screen at the same time, a small package that easily fits onto the corner of a desk, a PC connection.
The crucial thing it lacks? A web connection. A little surprisingly, the P7 doesn’t seem to carry any kind of network connection, WiFi or otherwise. Here’s hoping iriver adds that down the line – it would make the device much more useful. No word on U.S. release date yet, though, so maybe there’s still time to add the feature?
Posted on Mar 16, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:50 am
Gadget maker Archos is set to take the wraps off a tablet device running Google’s Android OS in the third quarter of 2009 and I’m interested.
The device, which Engadget identifies as being based on the Archos 5, will sport a 5-inch screen, a 500GB hard drive a 7-hour battery, a built-in phone, all kinds of media capabilities, and a network connection.
Two things interest me in particular here. First, the device runs on Android, Google’s answer to the iPhone. Just as the iPhone has the App Store, Android has its own marketplace, meaning that developers can create software for the device that can add all kinds of features. Second, with a network connection and its big screen, this device is like a mini digital picture frame or a portable photo album.
I could easily see something like FrameChannel being ported to Android and helping to make this device a hit. As usual, I say that with no inside or special knowledge of any plans – I’m just speculating. I think it would be cool, though.
Posted on Jan 10, 2009 by Sam Costello at 2:58 am
Despite the efforts of industrial designers at companies like Apple, the wireless router is still basically a boxy little thing that doesn’t do much for the décor of your home. D-Link has taken the wraps off a new device, though, that won’t make you embarrassed to have your wireless router sitting out for all to see.
The D-Link Xtreme N DIR-685 information appliance combines an 802.11n wireless router, network attached storage device, media server, and – best of all – digital picture frame sporting a 3.2-inch LCD all into a single device.
The Xtreme N DIR-685 offers standard wireless router features such as printer and USB device sharing, and adds the ability to stream all kinds of content from the web to the device and devices connected to it.
The streaming web content is provided by the device’s out-of-the-box integration with FrameChannel, which is not only smart, but makes using the service and frame together even easier.
No word on price or availability yet, but I suspect we’ll see this guy displayed on tables in house nationwide soon rather than later.
Posted on Dec 15, 2008 by Sam Costello at 2:10 am
It seems like a fairly natural combination – a digital picture frame and a photo printer together in a single gadget. Keian Japan is offering just that in the form of its P71-A2-JP.
The device sports a 7-inch LCD with 480 x 234 resolution, SD card and memory stick slots, USB, and MP3 playback. The print outs are at 300 dpi and apparently not wonderful. No word on US availability, either.
Still, the idea of the device is an appealing one. It could be made even more appealing with a WiFi connection. Imagine being able to send the latest snapshots to your family’s digital frame over the Internet and, when they find a photo they like, they can print it out and slap it into a photo album. That would be pretty neat.
Posted on Oct 7, 2008 by Sam Costello at 2:49 am
Maybe landline home phones aren’t so dead after all. AT&T has just taken the wraps off its Home Manager information appliance, which combines a digital frame and landline phone into a package that starts at US$299.
The device, built around a 7-inch Samsung touchscreen and with a high-speed Internet connection, offers phone service (and includes a cordless handset), and Internet-delivered content such as photos, Yellow Pages, weather, stocks, sports scores, and more (very similar to FrameChannel).
The device is only available in a few markets right now — most notably, Atlanta, Chicago, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, San Francisco, and LA — but if it catches on there, expect to see it elsewhere.
Home Manager requires a two-year agreement to AT&T High Speed Internet or U-verse.
Thanks for the link to Slippery Brick
