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Joshua Goldman/CNET)
Sony will be bringing its S-Frame DPP-F700 printer to the U.S. in January, the company announced Thursday. It's basically a dye-sub snapshot printer, but with a 7-inch LCD. The screen can be tilted up when the printer is in use and then folded flat against the printer so that when you remove the paper tray, you can stand the unit up horizontally or vertically.
I had a chance to play around with one and, well, it's a photo printer with a larger-than-usual LCD on top. The extra screen real estate is nice, though, especially when using the F700's editing options such as cropping and adjusting brightness, contrast, hue, and sharpness. And, of course, it's better than looking at just a photo printer.
Check out the slideshow below for more details or just because you're bored and/or love looking at pictures of tech products.
Also, quick poll, how long till point-and-shoot cameras are primarily set to shoot in wide-screen resolutions? Has anyone stopped shooting 4:3 in favor of 16:9?
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John P. Falcone/CNET)
HP has one big request for when you're talking about its new DreamScreen product line: don't call it just a digital photo frame.
Fair enough. The DreamScreen can display your photos effortlessly, but that just scratches the surface of what it can do. Available in 10.2-inch and 13.3-inch versions (both 800x480 resolution), the DreamScreen offers 2GB of onboard memory, plus slots for all standard flash media card types as well as USB storage. If loading your digital media via flash memory is too old-fashioned for you, the DreamScreen can also connect to your home network via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and--according to HP--the included software lets you drag and drop the files you want to move to it via the network.
Beyond photos, the DreamScreen can also play videos (MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264) and music (MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV) through its built-in speakers (or you can use the headphone jack to connect to an outboard stereo); it can also play music in the background while displaying a slideshow. But if you don't have a single audio file, you can instead opt for one of thousands of Internet radio stations or Pandora's streaming audio service instead.
But wait, there's more! ... Read more
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Toshiba)
It's not surprising when a TV or monitor manufacturer decides to enter the digital photo frame market. It's already got its hands on the panels, designers, and brand recognition, so why not throw something out there and see if it can sell some units? So again, not shocking that Toshiba announced Monday one 10-inch and two 8-inch Digital Media Frames (especially since its dabbled in this market outside the U.S.).
Toshiba's not calling them photo frames, because they do more than just display pictures once you connect them over Wi-Fi to the Internet. A partnership with FrameChannel will give you access to more than 1,000 channels of personalized content, such as news, weather, sports, and financial data as well as photo-sharing sites, social networks, and RSS feeds.
The 8-inch model (pictured) comes in black or white at a suggested retail price of $179.99 and features "an acrylic front finish and eye-catching reflective trim." It also looks like they have some touch-sensitive buttons that hopefully disappear when not in use. The $229.99 10-inch frame is black only and has "a striking faceplate design and a slim profile."
Look for them to be available in August.
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Jobo AG)
I really liked the last Jobo frame I reviewed, but it was just a little short on features in comparison with other models in its price and size range. It looks as if the company's latest model is no different.
The 8-inch Jobo Plano 8 has an 800x600-pixel resolution LCD with a 400:1 contrast ratio and measures 8.4 inches wide by 6.5 inches high by 0.9 inch thick. There are slots for SD, SDHC, MMC, MemoryStick, and xD cards (not CompactFlash, though), and a USB port for connecting external storage. There is no internal memory, but you do get a wall-mounting kit and a remote control.
It supports JPEG files only, so no MP3 or Motion JPEG support. Not that it matters since there are no speakers for audio either. However, if the controls and menu system are like its other frames, it'll be easy to setup and use.
The Jobo Plano 8 will be available in late June with an AC adapter, remote control, and manual for about $129. The 7- and 10.4-inch models will be available for $99 and $179, respectively.
Do you want an inexpensive frame, but can't wait till the end of June? Read reviews of photo frames for $125 or less.
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The Kodak P720 costs around $60.)
Kodak offers several digital photo frames, including models that feature built-in wireless connectivity and even cutting edge OLED display technology. But its P720, a 7-inch frame, is about as basic as you get and sits at the entry-point of the Kodak line with a street price of less than $70.
Some digital photo frames have real wood or metal finishes, but this is strictly a plastic affair. With its simple, slim black border, the frame looks elegant enough from afar and comes with two stick-on decorative mattes (one is red, the other silver) that let you customize the frame's look. The kickstand doesn't swivel, but you do have the option of propping the frame up in a horizontal or vertical orientation. On the back of the frame there are keyhole slots for mounting the frame to a wall with screws along with a threaded tripod mount if you want to prop it up with a tripod.
Read the full review to find out how well the P720 performs.
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Pandigital)
The Pandigital PanTouch Clear 10.4-inch frame (also known by the far-catchier name PAN1000DWPCF2) is not only fully loaded with features, but it's really thin, too, at just 0.3-inch thick. The 4:3 frame uses an HD-quality LCD with a 1,024x768 resolution and it has a full touch-screen interface on fingerprint-resistant, clear glass. It's all very exciting.
With an MSRP of $229.99 you better be getting more than just a thin, pretty touch-screen frame, and you do. There's integrated Wi-Fi for connecting to a home wireless network and you'll be able to use an add-on Bluetooth USB dongle so letting friends and family send photos from Bluetooth-enabled devices is an option.
The multiformat card reader supports Compact Flash, SD, XD, MS/MSPro, and MMC or there's a USB connection for attaching an external flash or hard drive. Playback is limited to JPEG photos, Motion JPEG video, and MP3 files, though.
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Transcend)
On the short list of things I appreciate in a digital photo frame is a lot of internal memory. Sure, it's cheap enough to buy an extra SD card, but when a flash-memory manufacturer like Transcend makes a frame, I expect it to have a healthy amount. The newly announced PF810 has 2GB thankfully, but also adds a couple things that I just don't care about.
For one, the frame looks decent enough, but what's with the rhinestones on the corners? It's also touch-sensitive, which could be fun if Transcend didn't use a finger-print-collecting gloss-black finish.
The 8-inch, 800x600-resolution display sounds OK, and the company's new NaturaTone intelligent skin color processing and other image enhancements are promising, too. Like Transcend's 7-inch photo frames, the PF810 has MP3 and video playback (presumably motion JPEG) as well as a built-in FM radio tuner, alarm clock, and calendar functions. Honestly, I can't say I'd ever use a frame to listen to the radio, but if someone out there can explain the scenario where you would, please comment.
Pricing and release date weren't announced, but the company's PF720 frame has similar features and sells for around $100.
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Jobo)
You know it's bad when the most exciting thing about a product is that it comes with a remote control. However, to be fair to Jobo AG and its PDJ077 digital photo frame, most sub-$100 7-inch displays don't include a remote. Or support for CF cards for that matter. The PDJ077 has both.
The LCD also features an 800x480 resolution with a contrast ratio of 400:1 and user-adjustable brightness. The frame has slots for CF, SD/SDHC, MMC, and MS cards as well as a full-size USB 2.0 port for use with external drives. Another USB port lets you run a cable from the frame to your computer so you can use the PDJ077 as a card reader.
Left out is internal memory, and file support is JPEG only (read: no video playback). But you do get that remote, which the company says controls everything. So that's something.
HANNspree--probably best known for its oddball LCD TV designs--has decided it's no longer satisfied being in just the TV and monitor markets and Monday announced the availability of two digital picture frames.
The $99.99, 8-inch wide-screen HANNspree SD80M4MB (catchy name, right?) features three, themed ceramic interchangeable faceplates: Christmas (HANNsxmas, pictured), birthdays (HANNssweet), and Valentine's Day (HANNsvalentine). The company also throws in two plain ol' frame backings so you can use the two faceplates that are not in use on the photo display as regular frames for photo prints.
The SD80M4MB is loaded up with standard digital photo frame features like the ability to play audio and video files, autorotation of images, slide-show functionality, calendar and alarm clock, a 6-in-1 memory card reader, a remote control, and 256MB internal memory.
If all that is more frame than you need or want, HANNspree is also shipping the SD7021. The features are cut considerably (for instance internal memory drops to a paltry 8MB) and it's smaller with a 7-inch wide-screen display, but it can be had for around $40. I doubt the quality of a $40, 7-inch LCD will be all that good, but it's certainly cheap and easy.
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Cagic)
Cagic is new to the digital photo frame arena and its claim to fame--or at least its marketing pitch--is that it's keeping things simple while making a frame that's more stylish and better constructed than your typical digital photo frame.
The company's first offering, an 8.4-inch diagonal model that comes in three finishes (birch, mahogany, and black), has been designed by "a European-trained interior stylist using quality materials and passionate attention to detail." Silly marketing phrases aside, the Cagic frame does live up to its billing as being well designed and stylish.
