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Posts Tagged ‘digital photo Frame’

Recently 2 new digital frames with a built-in photo printing features were announced. One was the Sony DPP-700 the other is Mimo’s iMo Foto Frame. While both manufacturers hope “easy printing convenience” will be a desirable feature, consumers may ask some simple questions that ultimately determine if these frames a worth buying.

Sony’s new printing frame has a 7-inch 800 x 480 WVGA screen, include in it are 21 different time and date templates, 1GB of internal memory, a micro SD card slot and a USB interface. Its built-in printer produces 4 x 6-inch photos with a resolution of 300 x 300 dpi. The Sony DPP-F700, for sale in mid-November, has a suggested list price of $290. Compatible color print packs include SVM-F40P, F120P, F40L1, and F120L.

Mimo’s iMo, which at $229.99 is priced $60 lower than the Sony frame, features a 8-inch 800×600 LCD display and photo card slots for CD, SD, MS, MMC and xD cards, a remote control and a USB interface as well. Its built in printer is able to produce 4-inch x 6-inch photos with 300×300dpi resolution. The frame comes with paper cartridge for 36 prints. Mimo also offers a 24 print replacement cartridge.

Both of these 2 new “printing” frames enter the segment of the market that until now was only occupied by Smartparts. Smartparts just introduced their SP8PRT 8-Inch Digital Picture Frame into the market in the first quarter of this year. Surprisingly, while the SP8PRT originally had a list price of $299.99 it currently is selling for only $84.58 on Amazon!  I gotta admit that at that price, which equates to a 72% discount, I can’t help but wonder why they already are so deeply discounted. Hmmmm…..

Anyway, before consumers buy any one of these frames they will surely have a few questions about digital printing frames such as:

• What is the actual single print cost compared to a traditional photo lab print?
• What is the quality of the photo print? Will the image last or fad?
• Will photos, that require a lot of one color, use up so much of that specific color that ultimately it reduces the cartridges print output so that it is less than 36 prints?
• How readily available locally will the replacement print cartridges be?  Are replacement print cartridges only available on-line?
• Will the cartridges dry up if not used often enough?
• Would it be wiser to invest in a new home printer that also has photo printing capabilities?
• If a frame is discontinued will cartridges still be available?

I do know that currently the print cartridges w/paper for all 3 frames are available and each has a list prices of $19.99. That means a single print from a cartridge that prints 36, 4×6-inch prints cost will about 55¢ each. However, since I could not find a local store that carried any cartridges, I had to factor in an additional $7 to $10 for shipping. When you add shipping fees a single print will cost about 72¢ to 83¢ each.  Will consumers perceive this “convenience” as an expensive luxury when compared to the typical 4×6 photo print at a local drug store that costs about 19¢?

So while instant printing might initially seem like a nice convenience, in these tough economic times when every penny counts, Sony and Mimo’s frames might not be worth it when the consumers realizes that they can easily upload/take a picture file and get an inexpensive print at a local drug, grocery or big box store conveniently located in their neighborhood for only 19¢. Plus, they won’t need to spend a great deal of time running around trying to find a replacement print cartridges or paying extra in shipping fees should the cartridge only be available on line.

Ultimately the consumer will decide if digital frames with the convenience of built in printers is an added expense that is really worth taking a chance on. But, what ever the consumer finally does decide, I bet right now Sony and Mimo would like to know what Smartparts knows.

Digital photo frames are often criticized by technology gurus for being simple and mundane gadgets. If this is so it causes me to wonder how some manufactures still can make them so exasperating.

Wanting to get the full consumer experience I recently purchased Pandigital frame from a local electronics superstore for review.  From the box I learned that 7” Pandigital frame has the following features: 1GB Internal Memory that holds up to holds up to 6400 images, LCD display, 4:3 Aspect Ratio,  SD/MS/MS-PRO/MMC/XD Card Reader compatibility, remote control, alarm clock, calendar, programmable ON/Off timer, audio, video and is both bluetooth and WiFi compatible.

While I selected the Pandigital PAN7000DW specifically for its WiFi function, I was soon to learn that getting WiFi was not going to be easy. While the frame’s box was quick to communicate that it is WiFi compatible, only after reading through the instruction manual did I learn that the generic WiFi adaptor I also bought for it would not work. Buried deep in the user’s manual, which is sealed in the frame’s box, are instructions to specifically buy a Pandigital WiFi adaptor… which, inconveniently, only can be purchased online for $23.99.

With a suggested list price of $99.99 the frame, the Pandigital PAN7000DW has a nice crisp picture will integrate with a variety of home interior styles.  However the physical design of the frame has some serious flaws including:

• The piece of glass that nests in the plastic frame is not secured and therefore could be broken if one is not careful.
• The adjustable foot is “light weight” and feels like it could snap and break when compared to the way the rest of the frame is constructed.
• The single speaker’s volume was barely audible, sounding almost as if the speaker was blown.
• The remote control, when stored on the back of the frame, totally covers the speaker and further muffles the sound.
• The WiFi adaptor hangs off the side in clear site instead of being hidden.

I also found some glitches with the internal functions of the Pandigital Frame including:

• The clock’s 1/8^th inch high numeric readout is very difficult to read.
• There is no “snooze” functionality built into the alarm clock.
• Fading from picture to picture in a slideshow was jumpy.
• When Zoom function was engaged, the top of the picture as obstructed with a ½ inch darkened band that displayed the image’s file name, time and date.
• The “back/previous” picture review function would not work.
• There was an approximate 10 second delay from the time on pressed the zoom button to the actual zoomed up image being displayed.
• Music files, loaded to internal memory, would NOT play when viewing a slideshow either streamed via WiFi or from an external memory card.

While I found the glitches, hiccups and design snafus of the Pandigital PAN7000DW a bit annoying; setting up the WiFi connectivity was exasperating.

Before I go into details, let’s be clear about WiFi connectivity in digital frame. A WiFi can be configured to communicate out through a router, over the internet and directly into a photo hosting website and/or it can be set to connect and pull pictures right off a local PC.

So while tedious and time consuming, I did find setting up WiFi connectivity to the 3 compatible photo hosting sites (Windows Frame It, SnapFish and Picasa) on the Internet was easy.

However, setting up the WiFi connectivity so that the frame could display pictures stored on a PC was SUPER exasperating.  First off, the instructions guiding one to set up a Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Server, published in Pandigital’s owner’s manual, are minimal and wrong. A 25 minute call to Pandigital Customer support finally resulted in some guidance that helped.  The polite support tech told me that while he had never actually set up this type of WiFi connectivity he assured me all that needed to be done was to make sure that the desired image files were being “shared” in Windows Media Player 11 and “the frame would do the rest.” So after spending some time fiddling, futzing and tweaking I finally got it to work. Well, it worked yesterday. Today is a whole new day and for some reason the Pandigital frame has lost its WiFi connection to the PC and the files it displayed yesterday. Why doesn’t it see the files it saw yesterday? I am not sure as nothing was changed.

After spending hours, reading manuals, searching the internet for solutions, reading online support information, being on hold, talking to customer support and then trial and error tweaking to get it to work yesterday I give up. I don’t have the time to figure out NOW what is going wrong. At this point this mundane Pandigital frame is just another lost cause and I am resigned to be another exasperated consumer.

Last week technology product review sites and blogs were all a-buzz about Hewlett Packard’s latest product release… the HP DreamScreen.  Because so much was being said I found myself enticed to read more and more. But the more I read the more I noticed a pattern develop. I noticed that many “industry experts” were confused and unsure as to what the DreamScreen is or is not supposed to be.

Below are 16 quotes from various technology gurus and geeks who grappled with their own understanding on just how to best describe what  the HP DreamScreen is and/or is not. As you read through these quotes note that what they have to say about the DreamScreen is quite varied, perplexing and at times contradictory. Regardless, I am pretty sure this is NOT the industry buzz HP wanted.

• CNET ASIA-Crave “There are products which simply defy categorization.”
  

• Tech News World “DreamScreen …is it some sort of hobbled tablet netbook, or is it a pumped-up digital photo frame?”
  

• Business  Week “HP turns the digital photo frame into an electronic social calendar.“

• Mashable “HP’s new DreamScreen Tablet is some type of hybrid between a computer, a digital photo frame, and a music player. “

• Coolest Gadgets “In the case of the HP DreamScreen, it might not be fair to call it a digital photo frame.”

• Venture Beat “It’s a category of computer that is suitable for casual use by broader, mainstream audiences who might use it while browsing TV.”

• Geek.com “HP’s DreamScreen wants to be the iPod of digital photo frames.”

• Yahoo Tech “Depending on how you look at it, the sleek new DreamScreen is either a very powerful digital photo frame or a fairly limited Internet tablet—take your pick.”

• The Inquisitr “HP DreamScreen Shouldn’t Be Called A Digital Photo Frame.”

• eHomeUpgrade “HP Launches the HP DreamScreen Infotainment Display“

• Digital Picture Frame Review “I hesitate to call the DreamScreen just a digital picture frame, although it does do that. So it’s more than a frame – it truly is a new platform.”

• Gadget Republic “You see, the DreamScreen is like a smart TV/lightweight laptop hybrid tablet that has plenty of interactivity and always-on connection via Wi-Fi but it serves the purpose of being an aesthetically pleasing media hub.”

• CNET Crave “It sort of reminds me of a super-sized Chumby–another interesting jack-of-all-trades gadget that never really seemed to take off.”

• PC Magazine “The DreamScreen is meant to act as a wireless gateway to the Internet and all of the digital media stored on your network and other home computers.”

• Tech News World “HP has shared its dream with the world, but not everyone is sure what to make of it. The DreamScreen is much more than a digital picture frame, but much less than a tablet PC.”
  

• PC World “But the DreamScreen, for me, is stuck in tablet purgatory. It’s not quite the tablet I want it to be and too expensive to justify as a replacement for the digital picture frame I never use.”

The more I read articles (with quote like these) the more I could not help but think that if the industry experts, whose business is to know and understand new technology, don’t understand what the DreamScreen is, then how does HP expect the consuming public to understand it and in turn buy it?

What finally solidified my concerns that HP has some marketing work to do on the DreamScreen was when I read a quote by Leslie Fiering of Gartner Research.  Ms Fiering, a vice president covering mobile computing concluded that “the DreamScreen appears to be an interesting product in search of a use.

So just what is the HP DreamScreen? Is it a tablet PC? Is it a Digital Frame? Is it  Social Calendar? Is it a Lite Weight TV? Or is it an Infotainment Display or possibly a Media Hub? Personally, from what I can deduce from my own reading, I think PC Magazine probably best describes what the HP DreamScreen is all about. However I won’t truly know until I actually set one up and and use it for awhile.

Regardless of what HP intended the DreamScreen to be, the industry is not getting it.

For more information about HP’s DreamScreen I recommend you visit the DreamScreen website.

For my second frame review I selected what I thought would be a simple and basic digital frame when I picked Kodak’s EasyShare M820. As I mentioned in my last review, when I review a frame I don’t just set it up, add a few pictures and then start writing. I feel that if I am going to do a fair review it is important that I actually use the frame for quite a few days and dig deep into all aspects of it to understand all it is and isn’t.

The Kodak EasyShare M820 digital photo frame is a basic stand alone card reader frame. However, it is important to note that it is a bit outdated due to the fact that most new digital frames in the market are now wifi. But it is what it is, and it is still for sale in the marketplace. As a card reader frame its pictures are accessed for display directly from any media card inserted into it. And/or the frame can also be loaded with up to 1000 pictures in its 128MB internal memory.

Because frame owners tend to keep and use their frames for years, the design and build quality of a frame is important. Overall Kodak has done an adequate job with the frames physical design. The look of the frame is not too flashy and not too trendy, which allows it to blend nicely into many decors. My only critique of frame’s physical design is that the plastics Kodak selected feel and look cheap. The plastic matte, surrounding the screen, is a bit too shiny and the plastic removable faceplate frame is a bit too dull.

When it comes to image quality and screen size I think Kodak could have done better. Unfortunately this EasyShare’s 8” screen is in the less desirable and awkward wide-screen format technically referred to as the 16:9 aspect ratio (Standard digital photo format ratio is 4:3). The screen’s resolution is 800 x 480 pixels. While color rendering was good, the overall image quality is not the clearest when compared to other frames. When looking at pictures being displayed on the Kodak frame I couldn’t help but think that they looked like someone had smeared a super thin coat of Vaseline over them. I also found that when viewing pictures at a 45° angle and less the picture darkened considerably.

Up until now it could be argued that my critique of this frame is a subjective opinion. So while opinion is one thing, experience is another. It was only after loading nearly 550 pictures, some video and music files in to the frame did my frustration level rise to the point that I wanted to box the thing back up and “just take it back.”

Major Points of Frame Frustration:

• Picture organized on a PC in a file, sub-file and sub-sub-file order become a management nightmare when moved over to the M820’s internal memory. The ability to maneuver through files and sub-files, with the intent to select pictures for Slideshow viewing, is quite confusing and nearly impossible on the frame.
• If the frame loses power you will lose the selections you made for Slideshow viewing and have to start all over again.
• Images can be rotated for correct display; however, you will lose the rotation if power is lost. Also even though the image rotates the thumbnail continues to remain sideways.
• The frame only shows pictures in .jpg format. Image files in the .bmp and .gif format will need to be reformatted for display in this frame.
• Photos can be enlarged with a built-in tool called “Zoom.” However, you cannot lock a picture to a zoomed in view. The zoom view is lost once you move off the picture and on to the next. Also you never get an unobstructed view of a zoomed picture. When zoomed in the picture is covered with menu buttons, zoom bar adjustment buttons and the photo’s title bar.
• There is a brightness adjustment built into the frame… however, when the tool is opened up a gray screen with the brightness level indicator bar drops over the image masking the actual image you have selected to judge your brightness adjustment on. Therefore you have to make the adjustment, and then back out of 2 menus to finally see the adjusted picture and check to see if the change is correct. The process of going in and out must be repeated until you are satisfied.
• The frame comes with Kodak EasyShare Software. However, this software actually loads as two completely separate programs that do NOT communicate to each other. Photos edited and/or “decorated” in one program must be saved and then reopened in the Kodak Digital Display software that acts as a photo management tool and linking software connecting the PC to the actual frame.
• The photo management tool built into the software allows you to build a Slideshow and place photos in a specific viewing order, however the frame will not recognize or display in that order.
• While the Slide Duration view time was set to 5 seconds per picture, the actual viewing time varied anywhere from 7 to 10 seconds. This does not include the time it takes to transition out of one picture and into the next.
• Slideshows put together in the software and activated in the frame would play. However, Slideshows created by selecting multiple photos stored in the internal memory would not play.
• Even when a slideshow was playing an error message stating “Pictures & video could not be found” was displayed on the Slideshow Info bar.
• Specific music files built into a Slideshow do not automatically play when the Slideshow is playing.   Figuring out just how to get them to play is not a simple process. However, once playing the Slideshow specific music does not automatically turn off once the source for image display reverts back to the images stored in internal memory.
• The “Fade” transition function would not work consistently. Dissolve, pixilation, and boxing transitions would also randomly occur when “Fade” was selected as the transition type.
• Music Files loaded in the internal memory seemed to have disappeared, but were finally found in a file labeled “Images.”
• While the frame does have ability play audio, don’t expect much from the two extremely small (about 3/4 inches round) speakers located on the bottom of the backside.

I fought this frame for days… trying simply to set it up to store pictures, video and music files and then run a short Slideshow. While working with it I constantly found problems, inconsistencies and conflicts. It simply is not user friendly.  Searching to find solutions I read the 28 page User Guide in its entirety… more than once. Not finding answers in the User’s Guide I then went online to www.kodak.com /go/digitalframesupport for more help. There I found the “Extended User Guide” which was basically the same information as the User’s Guide with a little more info on how to use the software. I also tried to using the “Interactive Trouble Shooting & Repairs” tool. But this was no help either… too generalized.

At one point I even chatted with Kodak tech support for over 1 hour and 40 minutes trying to resolve the error message that had popped up on the screen. That message was, “Source Folder moved/deleted. Recreate folder and Update my slideshow.” To resolve the problem the Kodak technician twice guided me through the process of reformatting the frame’s internal drive. But this did not help. I finally got rid of the error message when on my own accord I simply unplugged the frame. When I told the technician what I did to solve the problem and who had earlier stated he “…was supporting frames for almost 2 years now,“ then said “All we need to do is to play with the frame to familiarize ourselves with the options.”

FINAL VERDICT: To sum it all up I have to say that I would never personally own or give this Kodak EasyShare M820 Frame of Frustration to anyone.

Digital cameras and digital frames have made the world a greener place. When you think about it, film is not an ecologically responsible media at all. Film is plastic coated with chemicals. Once manufactured, film is then encased in a plastic or metal cartridge, which then is either put directly into a box or into another plastic container and then boxed for retail sales. The production and packaging of film uses tons of plastic, paper, chemicals and inks… and that is before it is loaded into a camera and a single shot is taken.

Then, once shot, the film needs to be processed. Before processing the film is removed from the cartridge which is then disposed of. Once the film is processed and made into a negative, the image can finally be transferred on to photo print paper. All this film and print “processing” requires additional energy, chemicals (which by the way come in plastic containers), paper and water.

Once printed and taken home, photographs are typically stored in some sort of container. Be it paper box, plastic bin, photo album, traditional frame or even a drawer, photos eventually are stored somewhere. We don’t often think about it, but storage space is typically some sort of container that is made up of material(s)… paper, plastic, wood, glass or metal. However, digital frames can act as storage space too. Unlike traditional frames, digital frames have a dual purpose. Not only do they display photos, but they also can act as storage for hundreds and sometimes thousands of photos ultimately saving space and resources.

Now it is true digital frames do require plastic and chemicals to manufacture, and the paper for packaging to initially market. Plus they will require energy to operate, but in the long run they are much greener solution.  First of all, unlike cell phones, consumers do not upgrade digital frames often. These simple devices can last for years and years. I personally have been using the same digital frame now for nearly 9 years… and have no plans of changing it out. One frame will last a long time.

As I mentioned before, digital frames require energy. But the amount of energy a typical 7” digital frame requires is only about the same amount of energy to light up a 40 watt light bulb. Since most frames can be programmed to “sleep” their energy consumption can be reduced to a trickle.  Energy consumption is further reduced in digital frames that build in other functions such as clocks, radios and phones. These multipurpose frames collapse energy consumed by many devices into one and in turn reduce overall energy consumption.

Finally, there is one other type of green a digital frame can save… that is the green we call “CA$H.”  Using the formula for estimating energy consumption posted on US Department of Energy’s website, a typical 7” frame will consume only $20.47 worth of energy per year based on the frame being turned “on” for 14 hours a day and “sleeping” for the remaining 10.  Considering the hundreds and hundreds of photos a frame holds and the sheer cost that would be associated with processing an equivalent amount of pictures, $20.47 a year seems like a bargain to me.

So until the next post… that’s the green CeivaJoe knows.

POST NOTE: This post was inspired by blog I read last week entitled Green Tip Of The Week – Go Digital With Your Camera authored by Tracy over on Planet Forward’s blog. Thanks Tracy for the inspiration… you motivated me to look a little deeper and know a little more.

From the makers of great educational toys for kids comes a new digital frame that encourages storytelling. Now kids can shake it, shuffle it, and share their digital pictures with V-Tech’s KidiLook Digital Photo Frame! This hand held photo gallery allows a child to store up to 100 of their favorite photos. Because it is portable they can take it on the go and share their tales,with the help of pictures, to family and friends.

The small frame features a real-time digital clock and a motion sensor which allows a child to shuffle photos across the display by giving it a quick flip of the wrist. Loading is easy from any PC with One-click download via USB connection.

Available in two colors, pink and orange, the suggested list price is $24.99.

2AAA Batteries Required Ages 3-6.

For my first digital photo frame review, I selected the Sony S-Frame Model DPF-V1000. To be thorough, I actually set Sony’s frame up and used it for over two weeks. I wanted to dig into it  and really get to know and use the frame the way a consumer would. As I was taking my notes, I noticed that for every good thing I liked about the frame I always felt the need to qualify what I wrote with a “but” statement.

I selected Sony’s frame because recently there has been much talk about the design of the frames in Sony’s S-Frame series. I have to say the frame’s overall design is beautiful to look at; the fit and finish is perfect. But, as every designer knows, “good design is in the details” and it is in the details where the frame falls a little short. First, surprisingly there is no integrated holster/caddy to store the small remote control that comes with it. Next, I found that the frame’s trendy high gloss black finish with shiny chrome accents was a fingerprint magnet.  Also, because the rear leg extends back 6 ½ inches the frame can really only be viewed from the right side when it sits on shelf and takes up quite a bit of space on a night stand.  Finally, the frame’s sleek and modern design style, looking much like a miniature computer screen, would most likely clash with more traditional décors.

The DPF-V1000’s 10.2” LCD wide-screen picture is clear and bright… the quality you would expect from Sony. But, because the screen is a wide-screen (16:9 aspect ratio) a little less than 1/3 of the screen becomes useless black bands when viewing photos generated by most consumer cameras which are 4:3 aspect ratio. The black banding becomes even more awkward to look at when the frame is turned on end to portrait mode.

Surprisingly the frame, which looks hi-tech, relies on older card reader technology.  As a stand-alone frame, it accommodates all the popular card formats.  Pictures files can be moved from the card and into the frame’s 1GB of memory. But, I have to admit I was a bit perplexed as to whether the upload was complete after I moved my pictures over. A simple “Upload Complete” message would have saved the time it took to look around and confirm that the pictures were actually moved.  Also in this wireless age, I found that fiddling, futzing and fingerprinting the frame to load it with a new batch of pictures from a card was a frustrating and tedious task. A Blue Tooth adapter is available for the frame that retails for $249.99. The adapter would be an additional $29.99 for a total of $279.98.

Maybe to compensate for the fact that it is sold as a free standing frame, Sony packed it full of internal features. But, having to dig deep looking through layers and layers of menus to access those features is time consuming and confusing.  This coupled with the fact that for some reason the remote control required that I press the button numerous times in order for the frame to register my selection was extremely annoying.

While reviewing this frame, I learned that using an internal photo editing feature can be quite limiting. The frame’s Auto Touch -Up feature makes six basic corrections; but, going through the correction process with each picture one by one is quite slow and often results in a final “touched up” version that has negligible improvement.  Another feature called Creative Edit is a nice idea, but it is very limited in the choices it offers in the way of decorative borders and stamps. After using the photo frames built in picture editing, I came to the conclusion that ultimately it would be better to find a more robust PC or web solution (many of which are even free) for photo editing and decorative enhancement. It is also important that I note that photos edited in Photo Shop and converted to GIF file would not load onto the frame.

Finally, one of the features I was particularly interested in was the HDMI interface that would allow me to connect the frame to my Sony BRAVIA XBR LCD TV for big screen picture viewing. But, to make this connection I needed to dole out another $19.99 to purchase a special HDMI cable. Once connected, the show on my 46” TV screen had mixed results. New pictures that I shot using my camera’s super fine High Quality mode looked great on the TV.  Pictures I shot in the Normal Quality mode looked OK. Old paper prints that I had scanned and converted to a digital image looked OK when viewed on the frame, but looked horrible on the big screen. I realize this lack of quality is not due to a fault in the frame. My point is that while the HDMI connectivity feature is enticing, don’t expect that same clear image you get when viewing a small picture on a small screen to always transfer over to a larger screen.

FINAL VERDICT: I would have to say that considering the suggested list price of $249.99 the 10 Inch Sony S-Frame is an expensive sleek and shiny beauty on the outside, but cumbersome and perplexing on the inside.

The digital picture frame designers at CEIVA have tapped into the fact that more and more photos are being stored on home computers.  The new CEIVA Pro80 frame has been designed for easy access directly to an entire photo collection kept there. A clever new feature included in CEIVA’s newest frame is its built-in connectivity that allows photo streaming from Windows Media Server back to it.

Like all other CEIVA frames, the Pro 80 ingeniously connects to the internet to allow friends and family across the world to share their pictures by sending them directly into it. This exclusive internet connection is one of services that are bundled within the CEIVA Picture Plan. One year of the CEIVA Picture Plan is included FREE with every CEIVA Pro80.

The CEIVA Pro 80 features a high resolution 8-inch active matrix digital LCD screen, 640 x 480 display resolution, standard memory card readers, WiFi adapter, interchangeable face plates and CEIVA’s Perfect True-to-Photo display that puts an end to photo stretching, cropping or squishing. Internet connectivity is via WiFi or traditional phone line.

The soon to be released (release date 8/10/09) CEIVA Pro 80 has a list price of $179.99.

With each passing day there seems to be yet another digital picture frame being introduced to the marketplace. Typically what’s offered as “new” to the market is really another company doing what others have done before. However two new products have been released that takes digital frames to a new place… literally. One is the Hama Digital Photo Album the other is Sondata’s Shake –A-Pix portable mini album.

Hama Digital Photo Album

This digital “frame” is actually an electronic album used to store your favorite pictures to have ready to show when needed.

The Hama Digital Photo Album, with a 7” screen, it can fit in a pocket or purse. Its screen displays picture formats like JPEGS in 800×480 pixel resolutions. Operating on rechargeable batteries, its view time will last about 2 ½ hours on a full charge.

Like most digital frames, pictures can be transferred via the usual USB interface; and can store about 4GB of image files and supports the most common memory solutions like SD, SDHC and MM cards.

While pricing and release date have not yet been announced, the idea of a portable digital photo album looks like a promising idea.

Sondata Shake-A-Pix mini Digital Album

Borrowing the idea from the iPhone that uses shaking motion to engage functionality in some apps,  Sondata believes its tiny 2.4in photo frame, called Shake A Pix,  it is the world’s first portable digital photo album utilizing motion sensors. Quite simply…  shake it  to browse through your favorite photos.

This mini frame (and I do mean mini) has an internal memory of 32MB which, depending on file size ¸is just about enough memory to hold up to 170 jpeg or bitmap images. Photos are transferred into the 50g photo frame via USB connections.

The 5mm-thick photo frame measures 90×50mm has its own built in retractable stand. Its all powered by a tiny lithium-ion battery which can keep photos displayed for up to three hour on a single charge. Retail pricing for this mini album is expected to be $38.

Yesterday in New York Toshiba formally announced its entry into the digital picture frame market.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The TV monitor manufacturer, which has panels, designers, and brand recognition, has had digital photo frames in other markets outside the U.S.

Toshiba is calling their spin on digital frames a “Digital Media Frame” to stress the fact that they can do more than just show pictures once connected with Wi-Fi to the Internet.

“You can get digital photo frames today for $20 to $30, but this is more than that. We call them digital media frames because we are positioning them as devices to do much more than just show photos. These are more lifestyle devices that give you the news and weather and a range of other personalized content options,” said Louis Masses, Toshiba DAV group product planning director.

The frames will be released in an 8 and 10 inch version. Initial models offer a high-gloss floating-glass look in the 8-inch screen sizes, while the 10-inch model is looks similar to the company’s Deep Lagoon 2009 LCD TV design style.

The 8-inch Digital Media Frame comes with either black or white frame bezels. The white 8-inch DMF82XWU and the black 8-inch DMF82XKU will each carry $180 suggested retails. The 10-inch model will be offered only in a translucent black. The 10-inch DMF102XKU will have a suggested retail of $230. Both displays are said to be high-res, built-in speakers, and support for WMA and MP3 as well as Jpeg, TIFF and BMP.

CEIVA welcomes Toshiba to the growing list of manufacturers.