The Internet radio search is helpful, but it only works in conjunction with the other sorting tools. So you can’t just search the entire database for “sports” for instance. The default puts you in Afganistan. So you still have to specify genre or country, but at least the search is more useful than scrolling through thousands of stations to find what you want.

The best news though is now it’s possible to find local radio stations. Select USA for the country and your city’s name for the search criteria, and there should be plenty of options. “Cincinnati” yields 18 results.

We knocked the Internet Radio search function pretty hard in our review, we’re happy to see HP addressing the issues, making the DreamScreen progressively better as they go.

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HP DreamScreen Review

GiiNii ArtForme 7 inch Digital Picture Frame (model GN-705W) Specifications:

• 7″ LCD with 16:9 viewing ration and 480×234 resolution
• 128MB installed memory
• 5-in-1 card reader (SD, MS, MS Pro, MMC and xD)
• USB port
• Auto Rotate: photos automatically adjust to the orientation of the frame
• Programmable transitional effects
• Built-in clock and calendar
• Supports up to 20 megapixel photo size
• Adjustable backstand
• MSRP: $59.99

Build and Design

The GiiNii GN-705W is perhaps the very definition of a basic digital picture frame. This is a frame displays your photos with little fuss and features just enough bells and whistles to make you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. The design is extremely simple. The wood frame and plastic matte insert surround the 7-inch display and provide a touch of simplistic style that will fit in with just about any home décor.

Built around a 7-inch, 480×234 display, the GN-705W certainly doesn’t give you that space-age, “high tech” look common to many digital media frames. In fact, the matte-textured screen isn’t even protected by an additional piece of glass, the LCD is simply surrounded by the plastic matte and frame and is ready to be plugged in and used. While the this frame certainly isn’t the best looking device we’ve reviewed, I have to give GiiNii credit for keeping it simple with a frame that will work in almost every home.

Unfortunately, the GN-705W suffers from extremely lightweight construction. Not only does this frame feel fragile, but it’s so light weight that I imagine it would easily fall off a shelf or table with the slightest accidental tug of the power cord. The extendable support/backstand features a nice swivel mechanism that makes it easy to rotate the frame for landscape or portrait orientation. The automatic orientation sensor also works perfectly and keeps the photos displayed in the correct direction.

The GN-705W utilizes an impressively simple array of eight menu navigation buttons on the back panel. In fact, the controls for the GiiNii frame are so simple that changes are you will never need to push a single button other than the power button. That said, if you want to manually scroll through images, change the display setting, view the clock or calendar, or keep the frame set to a single image then it’s very easy to do so using the buttons on the top back edge of the frame.

Memory/Picture Sources

In keeping with its minimalist overall design philosophy, the keeps the back of the frame extremely simple in terms of memory media support. Connections include single USB port (for connecting a USB flash drive or external hard drive), a power jack and memory card reader slots for SD/SDHC/MMC and Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro and xD cards from your digital camera.

Per its specs, the GN-705W lacks any slave USB connectivity options, so you cannot connect this frame directly to your computer via a cable or Wi-Fi. You have to insert a USB storage drive in the USB port on the frame or insert a memory card from your digital camera. The opposite side of the frame lacks any ports, but I would have liked to see a single mini USB port here to allow the frame to function as a slave device … just in case someone wants to connect the frame to a PC and transfer photos that way.

The GN-705W sports 128MB of internal memory, providing only enough space to store a handful of high-resolution images or a ton of extremely low-resolution images. Granted, the GN-705W is really designed to read your photos off of a USB drive or memory card, so the built-in memory isn’t a major deal breaker.

Display Modes

The GN-705W is primarily a slideshow device. Power on the frame and it will immediately begin displaying images loaded into the memory if no card or flash drive is inserted. Plug in one of these external memory sources and after a few seconds of buffering (depending on the file sizes of your shots) the frame will jump to a slideshow of these images instead. By default, shots are shown in the sort order they appear on the card or USB drive.

Viewers can opt to manual pause, advance, or reverse the slideshow by pressing the appropriate navigational button on the back of the frame. However, it would have been nice if GiiNii included a basic wireless remote control so that users can control the image playback from across the room.

Menu System

The menu system on the GN-705W follows the same philosophy as the rest of the frame: Keep it simple, stupid. In fact, the GN-705W is designed to function without you ever needing to see the menu system. The only time the menu system appears is if you insert a USB drive or memory card that is oddly formatted and the frame needs assistance locating the images. If your memory card or USB drive use a standard format then the frame will automatically locate the images and begin displaying them on the screen. There are also options for a simple clock and calendar, though these are extremely basic (no integration of your photos) and aren’t likely to be used by most of the people who purchase this frame.

Display

A 7-inch, 480×234 display is a rather unfortunate choice for this GiiNii frame. Before I go into detail about the display I should point out that the typical resolution of a 7-inch widescreen LCD is 800×480 pixels. In short, the GN-705W has basically half the resolution of a typical digital photo frame … and it shows. Images shown on the display appear blurry and lack any real edge definition. Horizontal lines in your photos will suffer from “jaggies” (jigsaw-like edge lines) due to the limited screen resolution. While the color saturation and contrast are both perfectly fine, I just couldn’t overlook the fact that none of my images looked crisp or detailed. This is all part of the cost trade-off though; a higher resolution panel is more expensive.

A series of menu options also allow you to fine-tune the display’s saturation, hue, and contrast, and while the interface is fairly intuitive (it’s easy to adjust the display settings), there’s really nothing you can do to overcome the limited resolution of this LCD. Even when I stood six feet away from the picture frame I could still see the individual pixels that make up the display. You simply can’t expect to see the fine details in your images with this frame.

Conclusion

Although there’s something good to be said for a digital photo frame that keeps things simple and just works, simplicity should never replace quality. The GiiNii GN-705W Artforme 7-inch Digital Picture Frame is remarkably easy to use and features a design that feels right at home in any home, but the poor resolution of the LCD ruins what would otherwise be a fantastic value among digital picture frames. For $50-60 you get a frame that’s very easy to use, but you also get a frame that displays blurry, low-resolution photos. Bottom line, if GiiNii used a higher resolution LCD I would have given this frame a 4 out of 5 rating despite the lack of advanced Wi-Fi and multimedia features. Unfortunately, the poor resolution of the screen ruins what is otherwise a perfectly functional frame.

Pros:
• Easy to use
• Nice imitation wood frame
• Low price

Cons:
• Extremely low resolution display
• Few extra features and no remote
• Only 128MB of built-in memory

Rating – 2.5 out of 5 stars

The 700Z also uses DLNA technology with Bluetooth to sync with other DNLA-enabled devices to make sharing photos and videos easy. But the highlight here is the display, which should deliver some of the most stunningly bright and high-contrast images of any photo frame to date. The 7″ panel features a 1024×600 pixel widescreen resolution, .01ms response rate and tremendous viewing angles.

Other highlights include 4GB of internal memory, multi-card reader, USB, speakers and the ability to playback audio and video files.

The Samsung 700Z will be available in March for a suggested $300.

Audiovox Décor Series

The Décor series includes two 8″ models, the DPF8100 and DPF8300. Both features standard aspect ratio displays with 800×600 pixel resolution, clock/calendar function, USB connection, multi-card reader and remote control. They both also give users the option to swap out the included wood frame with almost any standard 8×10″ photo frame. This gives the frames ultimate flexibility to fit in with any home or office design.

The DPF8300 adds in “Virtual Matting” capabilities that will provide consumers with infinite color, texture and image options. We’re not sure what that means, but for some reason it doesn’t cost any more, so that’s something.

Both models retail for $129.99.

Audiovox Celebration Series

The Celebration series are portable digital albums complete with leather case and rechargeable battery that lasts roughly an hour. The D PF7407 is a 7″ model that comes in in black or white with an embossed cover. The display is widescreen with 480×234 pixel resolution, multi-card reader and a limited 128MB of memory. The suggested retail is $129.99.

The other model is the DPF7404 , a 4.3″ design dedicated to special occasions. Like the 7″ model, there’s an internal battery and speaker. No pricing has been announced for this unit.

As you can tell from the mock-up above, the end results appear to be compelling. Each photo can have a different effect applied, including: Water Color Painting, Color Pencil Sketch, Pastel Painting, Pointillism, Air Brush, Oil Painting, Gothic Oil Painting, and Fauvist Oil Painting.

Casio also has a few other tricks in this frame, including what they call Dynamic Photo. This lets users combine moving characters directly on the frame. You can also overlay the art effects to create moving works of art that should be pretty interesting. Another fun inclusion is Adobe’s Flash Lite. This is the first frame to use the software, which makes certain features much better designed, like the clock and calendar.

The Casio frame isn’t all party tricks though. The frame also  features a 10.2″ widescreen display with 1024×600 pixels,  2GB of internal storage, SD card slot, USB port and stereo speakers. The frame supports JPEG, BMP, PNG and RAW photo file formats,  Motion JPEG for video, and MP3 and WAV for audio.

And when it looks like Casio’s done enough to make this frame interesting, they’ve also included much-desired but rarely-included advanced power saving features like automatic display on/off using viewer proximity sensor and scheduled on/off times.

The Casio Digital Art Frame will be available this spring, pricing has not yet been announced.

The Photo Mail is being pitched as one of the easiest frames to use. Each frame will have a dedicated email address to receive pictures. When new photos show up, the frame owner chooses to accept or reject them. The entire transaction is handled seamlessly over the AT&T cellular network, so users don’t need a wireless or wired Internet connection in their home. The photos that get emailed to the frame go into a Snapfish account where they can be managed. Users can also order prints or other keepsakes.

Aside from the email capability, the Photo Mail features an 8″ LED-lit screen with standard aspect 800×600 pixel display. The frame also has 1GB of internal storage, multi-card reader (CF, SD, xD, MS), memory optimization mode, calendar, clock and alarm functions and programmable on/off times. The frame also handles multimedia files including AVI video files and MP3 music.

The Pandigital Photo Mail will be available later this year for a suggested $149.99. This price includes the ability to receive 300 photos. After that users will have to buy additional allotments form Pandigital for an unspecified price.

In addition to the ability to email the frame photos, the Pulse also works with Facebook and Kodak Gallery sites. Other highlights include a touchscreen interface, 512MB of internal memory, 7″ standard aspect ratio display and LED backlighting, for a more vibrant picture.

The Kodak Pulse Digital Frame will be available for US $129.99 beginning in April 2010.

The iNet 2.0 uses its Internet connection to stream Internet radio stations in additional to the Rhapsody and Napster services. Sherwood didn’t indicate any web-oriented services for the digital frame portion of the iNet 2.0.

We do know that in terms of frame features the unit has an 8″ display, 1GB of internal memory, USB host and an SD card slot.

The Sherwood iNet 2.0 will be available in May for $299.95.

Sungale Cyberus ID700WTA Specs

• 16:9 Widesreen LED-Backlit Touchscreen Display
• Resolution: 800×480
• Supported File Formats: JPG, TIF, PNG, BMP, WMA, AVI, TXT, PDF
• Online Features: YouTube, RSS News, IP Radio, Gmail, Picasa, Weather
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi B/G, PC Connection
• Internal Memory: 1GB
• Supported Memory Formats: SDHC
• Speaker, Headphone Output
• 2-Hours Battery Life
• MSRP: $229.99

Build and Design

I knew the Sungale Cyberus ID700WTA was going to special when I opened up the box and was presented with a picture frame that included its own leather slipcase. Most frames I see are models that are placed on a desk surface; not something with its own battery and travel case. Inside its leather holster the Cyberus ID700WTA looks pretty nice. The entire frame is covered by a thick leather border, leaving only an opening for the LCD and page controls. The sides are trimmed with leather as well, with openings for the memory slot, power button, and connectors on top. From a design standpoint the picture frame looks very nice with good attention to detail.

The frame feels pretty solid in your hands and the leather case seems to protect the body just in case you accidentally drop it. The top cover has magnets on the edges to keep it secure in storage and it has either cardboard or plastic inside the leather that keeps it pretty stiff. The frame itself feels durable when removed from the case and has no plastic creaking or flexing.

Controls

Controls on the Cyberus ID700WTA are limited to page transition buttons on the front cover and an on/off switch on the top. The power switch and page buttons require deliberate action to use so they shouldn’t be accidentally triggered in your briefcase or backpack. The main way to handle user input and device navigation is using the touchscreen itself. The screen is responsive using your fingertip to tap the onscreen keyboard and pop through the menus. If you don’t want to put smudges on the screen the frame also has a small pen inside the bottom corner. The main controls are all sized appropriately for a pointer finger so the input pen never really has to be used.

Display

The high resolution display is average compared to other frames I have reviewed. Colors and contrast seem pretty good, although with the resistive layer over the LCD, it does have a “muted” look to the display. This is common for most touchscreen devices. On this review model I did notice something weird with the backlight, where one perfect band of the screen was darker than the surrounding sections. It is hard to show in a picture, but if the screen was divided into four segments from bottom to top, it would be the one right below middle. You could only notice this on black screens and it wasn’t a problem in other display modes. The backlight level was fixed with no adjustment in the settings area. The display setting was limited to how images were rendered (optimal and original) and nothing else. If you let the frame sit idle it would dim until you pressed the screen but you have no direct control over that.

Memory Sources

This frame included 1GB of internal storage for loading images off a computer as well as an SDHC card slot to view images directly from a camera. Both memory sources were easy to navigate to when viewing images or trying to load movies. The menu layout made it appear that you could copy images to move them between memory sources, but no matter how I tried it, clicking anything loaded the file instead of just selecting it.

Display Modes

The Cyberus ID700WTA is limited to a basic slideshow for viewing images. You have three basic settings to adjust the way images are shown; display mode, slideshow mode, and slideshow time. The display mode lets you change how the images are shown on screen; either full-size or zoomed in. The slideshow mode adjustment gives you photo transition options. The slideshow time let you adjust how long each image was displayed; 5, 10, or 15 seconds. When viewing images, including the sample photos, the time to load each image was 5 to 10 seconds. Even with no special transition between pictures it still look a long time to render each one. Some of my larger uncompressed photos directly out of the camera look over of 10 seconds to load. The only way to really navigate photos is if you remembered the name of each one, since going through one by one would take forever with a large folder. No option to rotate the screen was given in the menu, so rotated the frame by hand for each picture.

Menu System

The Cyberus ID700WTA had lots of potential on paper but you find yourself letdown once you turn it on and start playing with it. When you first power the frame on it has a very modern look and feel with the boot screen, but once that finishes it drops you into something that looks very mid-90’s Prodigy-era. The interface could use a great deal of refining and it was frustrating at times since it required you to repeat the same steps each time it was powered on. On every boot it prompts you to enter the main menu or to connect to the Internet. With most network-enabled devices after the first time you connect to a network it doesn’t prompt you again. The ID700WTA goes through this entire process each time, which takes about 30 seconds going through each prompt. After doing this a few times I tried to see what would happen if you just skipped the process and it turned out it actually did save the information, but it never says that anywhere.

Almost every application is text based with very few images or artwork. In many ways it reminded me of stepping back in time to DOS-based computer. Once inside an application it was confusing to get back to the main menu. Each new screen would load up on top of the previous and to move back you clicked the X at the top corner until you reached the main menu again. If an application opened 10 new windows, you had to close each one to get back to where you started.

The flow of each internet-enabled application felt awkward with a “network loading” popup each time you opened one. After a few seconds the application would load into its very minimalistic interface. The YouTube app for example was frustrating as you could only view lists of top videos, but you couldn’t search for anything even though the frame uses an onscreen keyboard elsewhere.

Conclusion

The Sungale Cyberus ID700WTA looked great on paper but once you sit down and try to use it, it leaves you frustrated and disappointed. From a design standpoint the frame is compact like an eReader and feels very well built. The leather slipcase is a nice freebie since it protects the screen and gives it a professional appearance. All of this changes though after you power it on. The interface feels very dated and clunky with endless menus and no simple transitions between programs. Closing out of each application is a lengthy process depending on how far in you are, as each transition screen needs to be closed by clicking the X at the top. Overall I think the frame has a great deal of potential with the features it supports but it really needs a software overhaul to become useful.

Pros

• Nice design
• Good build quality
• Nice leather slipcase

Cons

• Prodigy-era interface
• Clunky navigation
• Slow image loading

Rating – 2 out of 5 stars

Digital photo frames aren’t just for viewing photos anymore. Today many of the digital frames we see are “digital media frames” designed to view photos, video, play music, or even access content over the Internet. This is exactly what the new 8-inch Toshiba DMF82XKU tries to do for about $180. Does this Wi-Fi enabled multimedia frame deliver a genuinely unique experience, or is it just another photo frame? We took a closer look to find out.

Toshiba DMF82XKU 8″ Digital Media Frame Specifications

• Widescreen Aspect Ratio (16:9) 8.0” LED-Backlit Display
• Resolution: 800 x 480
• Supported File Formats:
  • Image: JPEG, BMP, TIFF, EXIF 2.2
  • Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4
  • Audio: MP3, WMA
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 108.11b/g, USB 2.0, PC port (mini USB)
• Internal Memory: 1GB
• Supported Memory Formats: SD/SDHC/MMC, xD, MS/MS Duo
• Stereo Speakers
• Remote Control
• MSRP: $179.99

Build and Design

The Toshiba DMF82XKU features a rather attractive glossy design that combines black and clear plastics to give the frame a modern look that fits in nicely in a typical family room. The back of the frame body is glossy black plastic just like the front, so fingerprints and dust are an issue if you’re a neat freak. Do yourself a favor and buy a microfiber cleaning cloth so you can keep this frame looking as new as the day you bought it. Heck even the speaker grills on the back are glossy.

In terms of durability the plastic feels solid in all areas except the very center of the back of the frame … which will flex under firm pressure. Compared to other modern multimedia screens such as HP’s DreamScreen, the 8-inch Toshiba DMF82XKU looks and feels equally cutting edge.

The back of the Toshiba DMF82XKU (Doesn’t that name just roll off the tongue?) features a place to screw in the included stand which supports the frame in either portrait or landscape positions. While the stiff, antennae-like stand does a great job of supporting the weight of the frame, it looks pretty basic and almost looks out of place on the back of the frame. Since the stand is rigid and has to be screwed into place it isn’t collapsible for easy transport or storage. Toshiba also includes two mounting holes on the back of the frame in case you want to hang the frame on the wall.

Toshiba includes a nice little remote control with the DMF82XKU, but the frame lacks a holding slot for the remote … something many frames have nowadays. When you are done using the remote control you’ll have to keep it somewhere memorable or risk losing the tiny remote somewhere in your home.

The remote itself works exactly as advertised and you shouldn’t have much difficulty understanding the picture-based icons and text for each button. Navigating some of the menus isn’t completely intuitive, but after some trial and error I figured out how to jump from one feature to the next and how to setup the Wi-Fi connection and FrameChannel account.

The left side of the frame primarily contains the power button and memory card slots. The right side of the frame features the USB and PC ports, power jack, and the location for connecting the stand. All of the controls and ports are easy to reach, but the USB port in located close enough to the side of the frame that large USB flash drives might stick out and be visible from the front of the frame.

Display

The widescreen display on this frame features a standard 16:9 ratio with 800×480 resolution. Although there are some digital cameras on the market that record images in 16:9 format most cameras shoot in either 4:3 or 3:2 ratio. This means you’ll have to either crop your images or there will be some unused area on the screen.

The 8” display on the Toshiba DMF82XKU looks gorgeous despite the 16:9 screen ratio. The display is colorful and has very good contrast. The glossy finish will cause some reflections under bright indoor lighting, but the glossy screen does help boost color saturation and contrast. Backlight bleed around the edges is minimal with the screen surface having very even backlighting. Viewing angles in landscape and portrait mode were good with colors staying accurate to about 20 degrees tilted forward or back and nearly 90 degrees side to side.

Unfortunately, unlike most modern digital media frames in this price range, the Toshiba frame doesn’t always recognize the correct orientation of images, so you’ll frequently have to manually rotate images in order to get them to display correctly. If you flip the stand into portrait mode you need to manually rotate landscape image as they load. Likewise, if the frame is in landscape position and a portrait appears you will have to rotate the image or rotate the frame. I am not even sure why Toshiba didn’t include the software needed to read the image orientation from the image EXIF data and automatically display images correctly.

Memory Sources

As mentioned in the specs, the Toshiba DMF82XKU can read from multiple memory card sources. Memory card support includes SD/SDHC/MMC, xD, and MS/MS Duo. I would have liked to see a Compact Flash card slot as well, but only professional DSLRs and old cameras still use that memory format. The frame also includes two USB ports; one to attach USB flash drives (memory sticks) and another to connect the frame to a computer. To save images from outside sources Toshiba included 1GB of internal storage, which can be accessed directly when the frame is connected to a computer.

Menu System

The menu system is very basic, giving you access to local settings, system information, the Wireless setup wizard, and the ability to reset to factory defaults. The menu layout lacked some of the polish I have seen in other picture frames, but it was still perfectly usable.

Thanks to the frame’s built-in Wi-Fi the DMF82XKU can access images, video, and other data directly from the internet via a linked image account or FrameChannel. As many consumers may already know, FrameChannel is something of a mixed blessing. On one hand FrameChannel is a free service that lets you add multiple “channels” to your digital media frame so you can pull in pictures from online galleries, see weather updates, get the latest news, or even see how your stocks are doing.

Unfortunately FrameChannel has its own problems that make the usability an issue. Whether it’s a hardware issue or a failure on the part of FrameChannel, it simply isn’t as easy as it should be to use FrameChannel to put content on your frame. For example, after linking a SmugMug gallery and multiple news channels to my FrameChannel account the frame kept displaying multiple “broken frame” icons on the screen when attempting to display the channels. I found that I usually had to limit which channels I selected on FrameChannel because the frame would present the error icon if I tried to use too many channels (more than three) or if I tried to jump back and forth between channels.

This is simply unacceptable … regardless of whether Toshiba or FrameChannel are to blame. Consumers expect to be able to use all the advertised features and if they can’t see images from their online gallery or get the latest news then that means the product doesn’t deliver.

Granted, this is Toshiba’s first digital media frame to be released in the United States, and we’ve seen other issues with FrameChannel on other frames, but I’d like to see Toshiba deliver on the features that are listed on the box. HP’s DreamScreen does a fantastic job of delivering all kinds of content to users thanks to home-grown software. I don’t know if Toshiba needs to create their own content management software or simply work more closely with FrameChannel to make it work, but Toshiba needs to make sure that the advertised features work as advertised.

Conclusion

The Toshiba DMF82XKU is another digital media frame that looks fantastic on paper but simply doesn’t deliver on the promise of all the advertised specs. To put it mildly, if I spent the full retail price of $180 to purchase this frame then I’d be preparing to return it.

I eventually gave up and settled for only getting a few FrameChannel features to work after spending hours trying to get all of my selected FrameChannel channels to show up. The SmugMug and Photobucket RSS feeds never worked properly, and I consistently found that the frame didn’t like it if I streamed more than three or four channels packed with content via the FrameChannel service. After a full day of trying to get the Toshiba frame to live up to its advertised potential I gave up and just stuck a USB flash drive loaded with photos into the USB port on the back of the frame. If that’s all you want then there are many 8-inch digital media frames on the market that cost less than $80. While the Toshiba DMF82XKU looks very nice l find it hard to recommend this picture frame over other Wi-Fi digital media frames currently available in stores.

Pros

• Beautiful 8” widescreen display
• Attractive frame enclosure

Cons

• Too difficult to setup Wi-FI features and make them work
• Limited image orientation support
• Overpriced if you can’t make the additional features work

Rating – 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Not so long ago, if you wanted a touch screen in your digital photo frame, you had to settle for the fact that said frame would be bigger and bulkier than its touch-free brethren. As a rule, it was reasonable to expect that a frame would either have lots of novel tech, or that it would have the sleek look of a traditional photo frame – but finding both in the same package was usually too much to ask.

Pandigital is just the latest manufacturer to buck this trend in 2009 with the launch of the ultra-thin, touch-screen equipped Pantouch Clear series. With gift giving season upon us, could the Pantouch Clear be the sleek melding of form and function that you’ve been waiting for?

Build and Design

Baby brother of the 10.4-inch Pantouch Clear that garnered a fair bit of tech buzz when it launched earlier in the year, the 8-inch Pantouch Clear (officially, the less than elegantly named PAN8000DWPCF1) sports the same innovative touch-screen technology as its larger sibling.

While nothing about the frame screams “touch screen” at first glance, it’s hard not to notice just how thin this device is. Like many newer frames, the Pantouch Clear models utilize a display unit that’s complete separate from the actual frame – in much the same way that a picture sits inside a traditional photo frame. And with the Pantouch Clear’s display components coming in at well under half an inch thick, this frame looks appreciably less awkward than most of its digital counterparts hanging on a wall.

In theory, thumbscrews that retain the display unit in the frame mean that the Pantouch Clear should allow users to swap out the supplied dark brown surround for a different version. In practice, however, sensors for the device’s touch system are embedded into the frame itself (which explains the Mini USB connection from frame to display unit), meaning that if you want the touch controls to work, not just any frame will do.

The Pantouch Clear’s specific touch implementation is unique in the digital picture frame world: rather than using touch-sensitive borders or mats (a la Kodak) or even the touch-responsive LCDs seen on some other frames, the Pantouch Clear allows the entire display area to respond to finger input by building touch response into the glass panel that covers the display itself. As noted, a series of sensors built into the frame itself collect touch data from anywhere on sheet of glass that sits above the mat. This unique approach allows this device to incorporate full-screen touch technology without compromising the look and feel of a traditional glass-over-photo picture frame.

Stylistically, the decision to incorporate touch technology in this way also allows the Pantouch Clear to boast interchangeable mats. The box comes stocked with three choices: a conventional “full coverage” cream-colored mat, as well as cream and grey half-mats that leave a strip of clear glass between the mat and the edge of the frame.

The only potential downside to this more modern look, however is that the clear strip allows you to see through to the frame’s power cord connection and card slots.

A rotating, retractable stand makes the Pantouch Clear ready for desktop use, and a supplied stand extension allows further adjustment of the frame’s viewing angle (especially important for using the device in portrait mode, where the attached stand is barely long enough to hold up the device even when fully extended). Nail recesses allow for wall mounting in either landscape or portrait orientation. There’s also a Mini USB connection on the back of the device, allowing direct-to-computer connections with the supplied cable.

The Pantouch Clear sports touch-screen as well as remote control, but that didn’t stop designers from including a slate of five control buttons for basic function access on the display unit’s top panel.

The right-hand side of the device hosts most of the frame’s connections, with a multi-card slot supporting the common smaller media as well as a separate Compact Flash reader, and a full-size USB port for directly connecting flash drives to transfer images. On the opposite side, you’ll find the frame’s main power switch and volume wheel.

Memory/Picture Sources

With a pair of card readers, dual USB connections, and even optional Wi-Fi, the Pantouch Clear gets serious about getting images, videos, and music from wherever they currently live onto this device. The smaller multi-card reader supports the standard formats – SD/SDHC, xD, and Memory Stick – although it should be noted that Memory Stick support is limited to the larger MS formats: you’ll have to provide your own adapter if your camera shoots on Sony’s smaller “Duo” Memory Stick formats.

DSLR users will also be happy to learn that Pandigital has thoughtfully supplied a CF slot – an increasingly unusual touch in photo frames these days. Of course, pulling files from USB flash drives is also an option, and the Pantouch Clear seemed to have little trouble finding supported files regardless of where they resided in the drive’s file structure. Likewise, connecting the device to a computer via the supplied USB cable worked flawlessly: the Pantouch Clear appeared as a mass storage device, allowing me to directly manipulate the contents of the frame’s memory to my liking.

When it comes to memory, the Pantouch Clear packs in a lot of it. A full gigabyte to be exact, which Pandigital claims is enough to store more than 6,000 images. Assuming you leave the frame set to its default automatic resizing option (which converts all imported images to screen resolution before saving them) this should be a fair estimate of the Pantouch Clear’s capacity, and even if you opt to copy over full-size files instead, 1 GB should permit the storage of hundreds if not thousands of shots. Of course, given that the frame also handles video and audio formats, that extra bit of storage space is a nice plus.

Display Modes

The Pantouch Clear sports five basic functions in its main menu, with playback for photos, videos, and music, as well as a clock/calendar function and a unique if unusual “Recipe” mode (more on that in a later section). Of course, most users will spend most of their time in the photo playback mode, which works very much like similar modes on other devices. The Pantouch Clear utilizes a slideshow approach to photo playback by default, though users can opt to view all photos on a particular memory source as thumbnails instead by clicking the “Manage” option.

Overall, the frame offers a nice array of options for slideshow presentation, including the ability to add background music, select from a dozen or so frame-to-frame-transitions, and set how long each image holds on the screen.

In another nice touch, users can also put the slideshow on a time-specified schedule by selecting the “Run Program” option in playback mode – a great option for commercial or retail use. There’s also a separate sleep mode option for powering off the frame automatically. Conversely, I found the slideshow options a bit difficult to configure: the frame’s touch interface requires you to click through each option in a list one at a time (rather than providing a drop-down menu), meaning simple tasks like changing the transition style or shot-to-shot interval can become more involved than they should.

Video and audio playback are equally intuitive, though the demarcation between the playback and management areas in these two modes is somewhat less clear. The Pantouch Clear had not problem smoothly playing back MP3 audio loaded to its internal memory, and even handled common-format video files from an SD card without concern. As expected, audio quality is a little “canned” in both cases, and can sound extremely muffled with the frame hanging on the wall. The Pantouch Clear’s physical volume control dial is also somewhat inconveniently located for quick access – especially when the frame is wall mounted.

A basic but attractive clock/calendar mode rounds out the Pantouch Clear’s complement of mode choices. Options for changing the look and feel of this mode are somewhat limited, but users can set alarms or reminders via the touch interface – a nice addition for desktop or bedside use.

Menu System

Although the frame has physical controls as well as a remote, navigating the Pantouch Clear’s menus mostly requires dealing with the frame’s touch interface. Compared to other touch screens we’ve reviewed, Pantouch’s system is innovative in design, but somewhat less functional in practice – often requiring several attempts to get a press to register. This, combined with a slight but apparent lag, hardly makes the frame unusable, but can be a bit obnoxious if you’re wading deep into the menus.

On that note, the menu system itself also proves to be a little clunky (there’s no direct way to get from a running slideshow straight to the main menu, for instance). For quick access to basic functions, the back-mounted physical controls or the frame’s remote are actually easier to deal with than the touch interface. Moreover, the menu is multi-layered and circular at times, though to Pandigital’s credit, it’s also attractively laid out with relatively clear options. In short, the menu system is a mixed bag: it’s certainly not among the most difficult interfaces I’ve dealt with, but it does lack the polish and careful planning that tends to separate good devices from exceptional ones.

Display

Beneath its glass touch-responsive layer, the Pantouch Clear sports an 8-inch conventional LCD. At 800×600, resolution is par for the course in this class of devices, and the Pantouch Clear opts for the familiar 4:3 aspect ratio common to shots from most consumer digital cameras as well.

Colors are bright and vibrant, although I did note that contrast wasn’t as strong – even after making some adjustments – on this frame as on some others we’ve looked at. Having a touch-responsive glass panel over the top of the display is also a mixed blessing: I, for one, prefer the more traditional look of a frame with a glass overlay, but it’s undeniable that the sheet can cause severe glare depending on viewing angle and room lighting conditions. Plus, there’s the added concern of fingerprint smudges, which proved distracting after even moderate use. To the Pantouch Clear’s credit, the display features user-adjustable brightness, contrast, tint, and color. But with slightly soft colors and relatively poor viewing angles, the Pantouch Clear’s display is a mixed bag at best.

Extra Features

If we gave out awards for “Strangest Extra Feature” on a digital photo frame, the Pantouch Clear might well be in the hunt with its built-in cookbook. That’s right: the frame comes pre-loaded with recipes from several popular magazines, and you can add more by – how else? – purchasing them online. Of course, the recipes themselves are nothing more than image files stored in a special folder on the frame’s memory, and while this seems like one of those things that few users would ever have the desire to take advantage of, it’s conceptually interesting, at least.

In the same vein, the Pantouch Clear also features optional Wi-Fi – via a wireless radio module that can be purchased from Pandigital. Unfortunately, our test unit didn’t come so equipped, so I couldn’t say how well the frame’s wireless implementation works, or whether the USB adapter is worth the roughly $30 you’ll have to shell out for one.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the Pantouch Clear is a solid option for anyone looking for touch-screen functionality in a digital photo frame. Neither the most tech-loaded device on the market, nor a bare bones model, Pandigital’s latest shows off a good slate of technology that actually makes sense for most users. The device itself is attractive, modular, and easy to configure, and the few minor nits with the interface’s polish are relatively easy to overlook. In short, it may not be the absolute best touch-screen photo frame of 2009, but the Pantouch Clear has enough nicely implemented nifty-ness to justify the price.

Pros:
- Unique touch-screen approach
- Flawless video and audio playback
- Plenty of memory (and a CF slot too!)
- Configurable with included mats, optional Wi-Fi

Cons:
- Interface can lag at times
- Menus circular, not always clear
- Image quality isn’t top shelf

Rating – 4 out of 5 stars

HP 8” Smart Wi-Fi Display Specifications:

• Standard Aspect Ratio (4:3) 8” LED-Backlit Display
• Resolution: 800:600
• Supported File Formats: MPEG1, MPEG4, Motion JPEG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, MP3, WMA, WAV
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi B/G, USB 2.0, PC Connection
• Internal Memory: 512MB
• Supported Memory Formats: CF, SD, MS, MMC, xD
• Stereo Speakers
• Remote Control
• MSRP: $179.99

Build and Design

The 8” Smart Wi-Fi Display from HP has a rather basic design that greatly contrasts the DreamScreen. The body is matte black plastic in a slight wave form with speaker grills formed into both sides. Directly bordering the screen is a silver frame, also matte plastic, which sits slightly in front of the body. Compared to the sleek and desirable design of the DreamScreen, the 8” Smart Wi-Fi looks like something out of the 90’s. Normally I am not always a huge fan of glossy finishes for how much attention they need to stay clean, but this model really needs something to help it stand out in the crowded digital frame space. It’s pretty obvious that the DreamScreen design team is different from the team that designed the sd828.

The lightweight plastic body doesn’t help my initial build quality impression. The plastic body feels hollow when you pick it up and even echoes when you tap your fingers on it. In terms of durability the plastic feels solid in all areas except the speaker openings and has a steady footing when placed on a desk surface. The matte plastic finish resists smudging and scratches, but does seem to attach dark prints if you handle the exterior with oily fingers.

The back-side contains a built-in extending stand for viewing images in portrait or landscape positions. In the landscape position the stand stays collapsed, and when viewing in portrait mode you rotate the hinge 90-degrees and extend it by pressing the release button. While the stand does a perfect job of supporting the weight of the frame, it is very thin and flexible. 1-2lbs of pressure to the top edge of the frame will bend the stand out an inch. When fully extended one fear I had is if someone pressed down on top of the frame, the stand might snap off entirely. If the stand is collapsed when in landscape viewing mode it is much less bendy.

One handy feature on the side of the frame is a holding slot for the remote. When you are done using the control you simply slide it into the slot about half-way and it stays hidden and secure until the next time you need it. I personally think this should be a feature on every digital picture frame.

Controls

I usually don’t have much trouble understanding most remote controls but HP threw me a curveball with the picture-labeled buttons on this one. Each button is labeled with a picture of what the button controls. Some of the buttons are easy to understand off the bat (direction arrows, play/pause, clock) while others are not (cascading pictures, power icon inside a monitor). After some trial and error I figured out cascading pictures with a play buttons equals memory source and power icon inside a computer monitor means sleep, but why not label them with something simple like a word?

HP mounts the primary controls to navigate the menus, directly access a slideshow, and start/stop current slideshows. These buttons are near the top of the frame, slightly recessed on the rear. The buttons are clearly labeled with text, but their hidden position means you need to look behind the frame to use them.

Display

The 4:3 display on this frame is the default picture size from basically any camera on the market. For example if you have a 16:9 display and view images straight off a digital camera you will have bars surrounding the image. The 8” display on the HP Smart Wi-Fi is colorful and has very good contrast. The matte finish helps to reduce reflections compared to a glossy display. Colors seem to be saturated very well and the difference between light and dark colors is excellent. The 800×600 resolution is perfect for a display of this size, keeping images looking sharp and high in detail. Backlight bleed around the edges is minimal with the screen surface having very even backlighting. Viewing angles in landscape mode were good with colors staying accurate to about 20 degrees tilted forward or back and nearly 90 degrees side to side.

Compared to other frames on the market the HP 8” Smart Wi-Fi doesn’t detect which mode it is displaying in. If you flip the stand into portrait mode you need to manually rotate each image as they load. There is no menu setting to switch the frame from landscape into portrait mode permanently. I am not even sure why HP included a pivoting rear stand if they don’t include a simple software modification to flip the orientation of the screen. It is even stranger when HP clearly labels the hinge on the back “Portrait” and “Landscape” so perhaps it was a software feature they overlooked and might include down the road.

Memory Sources

The HP Smart Wi-Fi Display can pull images in from multiple sources. Memory card support includes Compact Flash, SDHC, Memory Stick, MMC, and xD. The frame also includes two USB ports; one to attach USB memory sticks and another to connect the frame to a computer. To save images from outside sources HP included 512MB of internal storage, which can be accessed directly when the frame is connected to a computer.

Utilizing Wi-Fi this frame can pull in pictures from a linked Flickr account. To use this you setup an account on HPFrame.com and link it to your personal Flickr account. Images in your personal account can be added into sets which can be viewed on the frame. Unlike many of the other Internet-enabled picture frames that support Flickr, this HP frame doesn’t support channels. Channel support I feel is one of the best features for digital picture frames that can connect to the Internet. You gain access to an almost unlimited supply of pictures which can be used for slideshows. I really hope HP brings channel support to this frame in the future.

The 8” Smart Wi-Fi frame supports streaming radio which is linked through the HPFrame.com website. You can search by country, city, genre, and language. I found a mix of AM and FM broadcast channels that streamed online in the cities I was interested in. Each city I looked at brought up 10-20 results, so changes are you should be able to find some that interest you. In all but one case the stations I added worked without a problem and played with reasonable quality.

Users can also add a number of other online-content features to the picture frame through the HPFrame.com website. These features include weather information for up to three zipcodes, shared YouTube videos linked through your account, email photos, Facebook, MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa, Snapfish, Twitter, and MMS. In the case of streaming video from YouTube the processing capabilities of the frame were tested and the results were highly compressed and pixelated video samples.

Display Modes

The 8” HP Smart Wi-Fi display offers two display modes, single image and quadrant. Single image displays one image at a time while quadrant displays two images with the clock and calendar on the screen as well. If you just leave the frame to display pictures at the interval that you set it seems to work without any problem. If you intend to skip forward through images you definitely notice a delay as the system tries to process the request.

Menu System

The menu system is very basic, giving you access to local settings, system information, the initial setup wizard, networking settings, and the ability to reset to factory defaults. The menu layout lacked some of the polish I have seen in other picture frames, but it wasn’t the worst either. As mentioned in the display section I feel some needed features such as an orientation setting were missing, so it could use some improvement.

Conclusion

The HP 8” Smart Wi-Fi Display looks great on paper but once you start to use it, it falls flat and comes to market six months late. The extra time didn’t help, in fact it probably hurt given the release of HP’s much better DreamScreen product. The interface is lacking basic features like the ability to change the screen’s orientation. This requires you to manually rotate each image as they appear during a slideshow. The online Flickr integration lacks channel support, so instead of adding a few popular channels to supply your images, you need to manually add your own pictures them to sets on your account. Compared to the DreamScreen which only costs a little more, the design seems dated, especially for a frame with an MSRP of $179. Overall it is hard to recommend this picture over other HP models currently on the market.

Pros

• Supports Flickr and streaming radio
• Nice 8” standard aspect display

Cons

• Lacks basic features
• Limited Flickr support
• Overpriced compared to DreamScreen

Rating – 2.5 out of 5 Stars

Digital photo frames can usually be separated out into two categories; basic but affordable and high-end with interesting features. The Sony DPF-V1000 takes the digital picture frame one step further, showing pictures not only on its 10.2” screen but on your HDTV through a HDMI port. Sony has you covered if you like to have a picture frame showing off a gallery of pictures throughout the week, but also if you want to show off slideshows during parties on the big screen. Priced at $250 this model costs quite a bit more than competing models making us wonder if the features justify the price.

Sony 10.2” DPF-V1000 Specifications

• Widescreen 10.2” LED-Backlit TFT Display with HDMI-out
• Resolution: 1024 x 600
• Supported Image Format: JPEG, TIFF, BMP, up to 48 megapixels
• Built-in Memory Capacity: 1GB
• Memory Card Types: SD/ SDHC, MMC, MS, CF, xD
• USB flash drive support
• Bluetooth support with optional adapter

Build and Design

Compared to other digital picture frames on the market, Sony really nailed the design of the DPF-V1000. The front is completely flat with a lexan cover over the LCD panel. This protects the LCD and makes it easy to clean fingerprints off the front ifthe need arises. The outer edge of the display is trimmed with chrome, adding a dash of elegance to really bring the design together.

Viewing from the back, the side panels slope to the front edge of the display, to keep the profile looking thin. Sony gives you with two covers that close off each side, further cleaning up the design. One of the nicer elements to finish off the looks is a single chrome rod sticking out the back of the frame that acts as the stand in both its horizontal and vertical positions.

The build quality is superb with a rugged front cover over the LCD, solid metal stand, and covers to close off any unused ports. The unit as a whole feels solid when you are holding it and sits firmly on a flat desk surface when you place it out for viewing. The only real complaint you could find with the body of the frame is the stand which is fixed, making it impossible adjust for viewing angle.

Controls

The Sony DPF-V1000 uses buttons on the frame itself and an IR remote to the various functions of the frame. The primary keys such as viewing mode, menu, back, select, and direction pad are in both areas. This allows you navigate through albums without needing to break out the remote. The controls on the side of the frame are very intuitive. They are designed to be triggered with one hand, using your thumb to rest against the front of the frame and your pointer or middle finger controlling the buttons. To use the side controls you first press the menu button which then loads up an on-screen guide.

In the center of the display you see the current tab of the menu directory you are using and on the right side Sony programmed an overlay to show you how the buttons on the frame function. The overlay also lines up with the height of the buttons so you know where to find them without looking behind the frame.

The remote is rather cluttered but in a way I think it turned out great. Sony gives you all the needed buttons in a small form factor, which means it’s easy to slip into a shirt pocket or store behind the frame when not in use. They don’t worry about ergonomics which might get in the way of keeping the remote as small as possible. The buttons are clearly laid out and a different background texture helps to separate the higher function keys from the normal controls.

Display

The 10.2” LCD looks very nice when displaying pictures. Excellent color saturation and deep black levels really help make images pop. The glossy surface seems to improve the color and contrast of the images but increases the amount of glare and reflection off the screen. If you have the frame near a window or lamp the reflections can partially or fully obscure the image being shown.

Viewing angles were good, although you do notice some color shift when you are viewing images in the vertical viewing position. Since most screens have weaker viewing angles when tilted forward or back, when you rotate the screen on its side, moving side to side starts to show this color shift. Backlight levels are fine for brightly lit rooms, but not enough to overpower bright objects like the Sun or lights reflecting off the lexan cover.

One really cool feature I need to give credit to Sony for is the white LED-backlit logo on the front of the frame. The frame senses which orientation it is in, so when it is positioned vertically it turns the logo off. This might not seem like much, but it really helps polish off the look of a stylish photo frame when the company’s logo isn’t on sideways.

To display your images on the big screen Sony includes an HDMI port to connect the frame up to an HDTV. Image quality was perfect on my 1080P display and the scaling of the menus also looked great. One of the features I didn’t notice until I had plugged the frame into my TV was that it outputs music during slideshows. The slideshow menu is rather basic and the “BGM” setting was actually the background music. Sony gives you three options, BGM1, BGM2, and OFF… I chose the off option.

Memory Sources

This Sony picture frame can handle multiple input sources to pull images from. It offers 1GB of internal memory that you can use to store individual images copied off of memory cards. You also get a multi-card reader that can handle every memory card format under the sun, including Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SDHC, and xD memory. If you prefer loading pictures from your computer onto a USB flash drive, Sony offers USB port that will be read just like the memory card readers.

Display Modes

The Sony DPF-V1000 offers a few display modes that are handy no matter how you use the frame. As a dedicated picture frame you can chose the one of the preset slideshow templates (including images plus borders or other background) or the single image viewing mode. If you have the frame sitting at a desk it can act as a colorful clock or calendar only, or a combination clock and image viewer. There are more advanced viewing modes which can be used to display entire folders of images on the screen in a large grid or even EXIF information modes which display camera settings next to the current picture.

Menu System

The menu structure was intuitive and nicely displayed. If you load up the menu while viewing images, the menu shows up on top of the image in a semi-transparent form. This contrasts with other photo frames which load into screens with black backgrounds when editing menu settings. The menu system was split up into two areas, one used to edit pictures or frame settings, and the other used to select the current viewing mode. The settings were split up between editing photos, selecting the memory device, and frame settings. Besides the background music confusion mentioned in the display section, every menu option was easy to understand.

Pros

• Simple to use
• Looks great
• Lots of refined features
• HDMI out

Cons

• Pricey

Bottom Line

If you are looking for an easy to use digital picture frame that looks classy and don’t mind spending a bit more, the Sony DPF-V1000 is a great option. The 10.2” display looks great and will auto sense which orientation the frame is in. The clear lexan cover gives the front a cleaner look and also protects the LCD from fingerprints and scratches. If you host a lot of parties the HDMI-out might come in handy to show of pictures to a larger crowd without getting a computer involved. Overall if you can get past the steep MSRP of $249 this frame is worth adding to your list.

Rating 4.5 out of 5 Stars – Editor’s Choice

Here’s a detailed update on what users can expect

• PC software update (v 1.27) that optimizes the image size for the resolution on the DreamScreen and compresses the file size to take advantage of storing more photos on the 2GB storage without degrading the picture quality
• Pandora
  • Better readability of station names
  • Station names now allow for accented characters in station name
• Weather
  • Channel now supports 3-digit temperature & sub-zero temperature readings
  • Data refreshes every 10 minutes
• Better AVI video file playback
• HP SmartRadio – cleaned up listings to remove inactive stations and updated others
• Better ways to manage folder copy — keep folder structure on the HP DreamScreen
• General optimization and bug fixes in the DreamScreen software

Again, it’s a great sign to see HP issue this third firmware update since the DreamScreen’s release less than two months ago. We fully expect HP to keep up the progressive work and look forward to seeing what comes next. Perhaps a search option or better localized access to SmartRadio stations?

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HP DreamScreen Review

eStarling is clearly trying to up their game, as most digital frame manufacturers now have to leap the bar set by the HP DreamScreen. The WPF-588 comes close in several ways, and is probably one of the more interesting pure frame plays, because of the dedicated email, touchscreen interface and ease of sharing photos and video to the frame. Where it falls short though is the lack of content services, like the HP, although eStarling does offer a Twitter reader, something the HP does not. For the same price though, it will be interesting to see if consumers prefer the simplicity and ease of sharing that eStarling offers here.

Aside from the touch panel and 802.11n WiFi, the other highlights include:

• RJ45 Ethernet wired connectivity
• 10.2″ 16:9 800X480 Digital LCD with split-screen design for right sized image presentation
• 2GB storage
• SD media card reader
• No PC required for setup
• Access photos through Gmail, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, and with more services to come
• Connected video inbox feature allowing videos to be sent over the Web from smartphones for later play back
• Twitter client
• Over the air automatic firmware update capable

The eStarling WPF-588 is available now direct from eStarling for $249.99.

It doesn’t get much better from there. The rest of the series seems to be terribly over-priced, even when compared to our weak dollar. The LS700, a basic 7″ frame with low resolution would set you back over $80. The comparable option in the US would set you back perhaps a third of that price. I don’t know what’s going on in the UK, but there must be better options.

LS700 (£49.99) – 7″ Basic Digital Photo Frame
-7″ diagonal TFT display
-480 x 234 pixels
-Programmable on/off time
-Mini USB port
-Portrait or Landscape display

LS420 Duo (£79.99) – 4.2″ Duo Digital Photo Frame
-Dual 4.2″ diagonal TFT displays
-234 x 202 pixels per panel
-Programmable on/off time
-Switch one frame to a calendar/clock
-Memory card slot: SD, MMC, MS
-Mini USB port

LS720D Duo (£129.99) – 7″ Duo Digital Photo Frame
-Dual 7″ diagonal TFT display
-High resolution: 800 x 480 pixels per panel
-MP3 player
-Programmable on/off time
-Auto rotation with tilt sensor
-Built-in memory to store up to 1200 photos (512 MB)
-Built-in speakers
-Memory card slot: SD, MMC, MS
-USB 2.0 interface
-IR remote control

LS1000 (£149.99) – 10″ Digital Photo Frames
-10.4″ diagonal TFT display
-High resolution: 800 x 600 pixels
-MP3 player
-Programmable on/off time
-Auto rotation with tilt sensor
-Built-in memory to store up to 1200 photos (512 MB)*
-Built-in speakers
-Memory card slot: SD, MMC, MS
-USB 2.0 interface
-IR remote control

LS1000W (£199.99) – 10.4″ Wi-Fi™ Media Digital Photo Frame
-10″ diagonal TFT display
-Wireless Wi-Fi™ connection
-High resolution: 800 x 600 pixels
-Download photos from your online albums
-1,000+ online channels available via FrameChannel™
-Sends & receives photos directly by e-mail without a PC
-Supports any POP3 & SMTP email address
-Wi-Fi™ internet radio
-Supports RSS feeds (weather, news, sports, financial data, etc.)
-MP3 player
-Built-in memory to store up to 1200 photos (512 MB)*
-Programmable on/off time
-Built-in speakers
-Memory card slot: SD, MMC, MS
-USB 2.0 interface
-Alarm clock and calendar function
-IR remote control

The concept of a printer embedded in a digital frame isn’t new. Smartparts had one on the market for a few years, but it suffered from less than stellar performance. The idea is simple, friends and family will be over at your house, see a fantastic shot on your digital frame and want a copy for themselves. Rather than give them a digital file or wait for one of the online services to print and deliver the image, users of the Sony DPP-F700 can press a button and in 45 seconds have a high quality 4×6 print.

On the hardware side, the frame features a widescreen 7″ display with 800×480 pixel resolution. There’s 1GB of internal storage, which is good for at least 2,000 images when resized for the frame’s resolution.  Additionally the DPP-F700 has a USB port and card readers that support CF, SD, MS and xD cards.

The frame handles playback of JPEG, TIFF and BMP image file formats in either single image mode, or slideshow with ten different transitions. There’s also an orientation sensor, that lets the frame be viewed in portrait or landscape mode, rotating the images displayed accordingly.

When it comes to printing, Sony has included a few extras that they hope entice buyers. In addition to printing the photo files, the frame has a few onboard editing options including:  enlarge, reduce, crop, date stamp on/off, border/borderless (for single prints), and brightness, contrast, hue, and sharpness adjustment. There’s also a creative print mode with over 30 templates that lets users make things like ID photos, calendars and proof sheets.

Whether or not users will commit to the $200 price tag and likely pricey ink refills remains to be seen. The printer/frame combination hasn’t proven to be successful in the past, though Sony must expect there’s a reasonable sized market opportunity out there.

Pro 80 Specs

• 8-inch screen
• 640×480 pixel resolution
• Aspect Ratio 4:3
• Media Server Support: PC with Vista, Windows Media Player 11, Macintosh with additional media server software
• Memory Card Support: CF. MS, SD, MMC and xD
• Two interchangeable faceplates in rich wood and classic black finishes

The PicturePlan photo delivery service allows users to display photos sent from authorized computers or camera phones. Owners all gain access to gallery cards, free CEIVA Channels like ABC News and ESPN sports and free applications. There’s also an iPhone application that transfers images from the iPhone to the frame.

The frame looks nice enough, and we don’t want to minimize their online services, which adds value – but their service is expensive and the 640×480 resolution leaves something to be desired. If you’re look for a simple frame to gift to an older parent or the like, there are probably better options. If you have to have a frame with a built-in modem, then there aren’t, the CEIVA line is perfect for you. But we’ve learned from iMate already what happens when users depend on paid services for their frames to work.

The CEIVA Pro 80 Digital Photo Frame retails for $179.99 and comes with a year of PicturePlan.

Editor’s Note – Kodak makes two frame in this series, the D830, which we have reviewed below, and a 10″ model, the EasyShare D1030. Aside from the size of the display, all other specs are the same.

Kodak’s EasyShare D830 is a basic 8-inch digital picture frame that’s perfect for users seeking a great display, easy-to-use photo viewing, and no frills. As the D830 demonstrates, though, “no frills” doesn’t have to mean plain, ugly, or boring. With classic, go-anywhere styling, a nifty touch interface that succeeds in combining form and function, and an innovative approach to interchangeable frames, the EasyShare D830 is a solid option for photo enthusiasts and general consumers alike.

Build and Design

The Kodak EasyShare D830 is a traditionally styled photo frame with a faux double mat, a replaceable dark wood surrounding frame, and an 8-inch LCD. With the supplied wood surrounding frame, the D830 is stylistically versatile enough to blend in in most home or office settings.

Traditional not your style? No problem. With the D830 Kodak has finally hit upon an interchangeable-frame concept that doesn’t require users to purchase specialized surrounding frames from the digital frame’s manufacturer. Instead, the D830’s display unit is thin enough at the edges to accomodate fitment into most standard 8×10 picture frames.

I tested the device with several frames, and in most cases, users should be able to fit the digital display to the standard 8×10 frame of their choosing – though it’s often a tight fit. Still, kudos to Kodak for rethinking the whole idea of interchangeable frames.

Like the recently review Kodak S730, the D830 does away with all visible controls on the front of the device, and sports a single control button on the back. In their place, the S830 utilizes Kodak’s Quick Touch Border system – a series of touch-responsive “soft” buttons (indicated by LEDs) that appear in the frame’s inner mat area, and correspond to options in bottom and sidebar menus that pop up on the screen when the border is touched.

The system’s operation is unchanged from previous versions that we’ve reviewed in the past. Tap the control area of the frame and the buttons’ LED indicators appear next to a list of on-screen options that varies depending on which display mode you’re in. A pair of arrows at the bottom of the display also appear when the touch system is activated, providing dedicated scrolling controls. As before, this arrangement is easy to figure out, easy to use, responds quickly, and generally performs quite well. My only (minor) complaint is that the frame’s Quick Touch Border interface means the silver and white inner and outer “mats” that surround the display itself are not replaceable/interchangeable as well.

On top of the display unit itself, you’ll find the D830’s sole control button – used to cycle the device through its various display modes – as well as the display’s main power button. Particularly astute readers may notice that compared to the S730, the D830 lacks a dedicated volume rocker switch: that’s because unlike Kodak’s higher-end frames, the basic D830 doesn’t support video or slideshow audio playback.

On the frame’s lefthand side, you’ll find all of the device’s connection options. Two separate card slots – one for SD/SDHC and xD card types, the other for Sony Memory Stick variants – cover all of the current camera memory formats except the larger CF cards still used in many advanced cameras. A single USB port can be used in host mode, allowing users to pull pictures directly from USB flash drives.

The D830 features a plastic kickstand-style support, which clips into an adjustable bracket on the back of the display unit. The stand locks in solidly, and can be rotated 90 degrees to allow for portrait-orientation viewing in addition to the default landscape mode. Similarly, the frame’s display unit provides nail recesses for wall-mounting the device in either orientation. Overall, the D830 display unit’s mostly plastic construction is good to excellent, evidencing the kind of quality we’d expect from an established player like Kodak. The included user manual is, like the frame itself, fairly basic: essentially it’s just a quick-start guide. Given that this frame doesn’t pack in a slew of functions and options, though, it’s probably more than enough for purchasers with basic tech knowledge.

Memory/Picture Sources

As noted, the D830 sports a pair of memory card slots and a USB port. Kodak doesn’t supply a USB cable (or, for that matter, any file management software) with this frame, but if you can scrounge one up, the D830 can also be connected directly to a computer; the frame appears as a mass-storage device, allowing users to directly manipulate files stored on the internal memory.

Speaking of memory, the D830 sports 512MB of built-in image storage. In order to make the most of this space, the frame is set up by default to resize pictures to screen size when you transfer them from USB drives or memory cards into internal storage. Hence Kodak’s claim that the D830 can store 4,000 images, give or take. (If you’d rather the frame leave your shots at their full, unaltered size, automatic resizing can be disabled via a menu option.)

When a card or flash drive is inserted, the D830 automatically jumps into slideshow mode, displaying pictures from the new memory source first. Easy-to-use single and multiple select options make pulling files from external to internal memory a relatively quick and painless process.

Display Modes

Like the similar S730, the D830 features four basic display modes: slideshow, collage, clock, and calendar (plus the ability to view single pictures and videos). If pictures are loaded into the internal memory or an external memory source is inserted, the device defaults into slideshow mode. Several options exist for tweaking your slideshow, including the ability to choose transitions, set how long you want each image to stay on the screen, shuffle the order of playback, and set images to play back in chronological order (newest to oldest, or oldest to newest, based on each shot’s EXIF data).

The D830’s multi-shot automatic collage mode is identical in this implementation to the function on other current Kodak frames. It’s a nice, visually interesting display mode, and a feature that sets Kodak’s frames – even basic ones like the D830 – apart. As before, you can’t change the layout of images within the collage, but you can adjust how frequently new shots are transitioned in.

The D830 also provides basic but attractive clock and calendar modes that use a split-screen display arrangement.

As noted previously, there’s no provision for either video or audio playback on this device.

Menu System

Having reviewed several Kodak frames in the last year, I’ve become familiar with Kodak’s Quick Touch Border interface. Having spent a fair amount of time with this control arrangement, I can say with some certainty that it’s a system that grows on you the more you use it. As an interface, it’s far from perfect: the soft buttons can be laggy or completely unresponsive at times, and the icons used in the sidebar menus are occassionally confusing. All of that said, the system is a vast improvement over the majority of photo frame interfaces out there, and once you get beyond it’s few quirks (you press the “Menu” icon to go up a level in the system, for instance), it’s a very functional control system.

Ditto the menus themselves, which are thoughtfully laid out and relatively condensed compared to the menus in many competitive devices. One press of the main menu icon provides access to the majority of the frame’s options, allowing you to switch modes, select a limited group of photos for playback or copying, change the memory source photos are being pulled from, or configure basic frame options. Equally appreciated is the fact that the settings sub-menu contains all of the frames ten or so setup parameters in a single list, eliminating the need to wade through submenus to track down a specific option. With the D830, what you see is what you get.

Display

The D830’s display is an 8-inch TFT unit. The standard 4:3 aspect ratio display touts some solid specs, including a 500:1 contrast ratio and 270 NIT brightness. Controls are more limited, however, with the D830 providing the option to adjust the display’s brightness only.

In terms of performance, the D830’s screen stands up well other devices in this class, providing excellent side-to-side viewing angles, and better than average up-and-down viewability as well. Colors are bright, deep, and appropriately saturated by default, and can be further enhanced by enabling Kodak’s trademark “Perfect Touch” color enhancement option. Overall, when it comes to the task of displaying photos, the D830’s screen turns in a solid performance that should please serious photogs and family snapshooters equally well.

Extra Features

As has been alluded to throughout, the D830 doesn’t have a lot to add in this area, and if you’re looking for the latest flashy technology or connectivity gimmickry, the EasyShare probably isn’t the right choice. In fact, besides the aforementioned Perfect Touch system and collage mode, the only “extra” feature that really distinguishes this frame is its ability to fit the display unit to standard 8×10 frames.

Conclusion

Without a long list of bonus features and sophisticated technology, you might be led to believe that the D830 fails to impress. When it comes to the basics, though, this frame excels in the fact that it doesn’t surprise. Frames that promise a lot often fail to impress when they don’t live up to their bold claims. The D830 is just the opposite: it doesn’t promise much in terms of features, but it won’t give a user headaches trying to perform basic tasks like loading new photos, deleting old ones, rearranging slideshows, and. It’s this “set it and forget it” simplicity, in fact, that makes the D830 one of the more straightforward, pleasant, and appealing frames out there. For a frame with few advanced features, the D830’s $140 price tag may be a little steep, but even so, I’m betting many users will think the EasyShare’s versatile styling and straightforward simplicity justify the extra expense.

Pros:

- Couldn’t be easier to use
- Display works with most 8×10 picture frames
- Crisp, vibrant display
- Nice collage mode

Cons:

- Few extras for the price
- No audio/video playback
- Quick Touch interface lags at times

Editor’s Rating – 4 out of 5 stars

True to its word, HP pushed out an update to the DreamScreen that does quite a bit of updating to the Pandora application. Pandora now lets users create a new account, truly eliminating the need for a PC for this application. Users can also now create new stations and delete stations. It also appears the thumbs up/down bug where the images were not being displayed has now been resolved.

HP is being coy about other fixes or enhancements. The Pandora updates are the most obvious improvement on the DreamScreen, but it’s reasonable to assume HP repaired other issues as well.

As to the update itself – our frame did not automatically recognize and install the update as it should based on the settings. Fortunately we had a heads up that the update was coming and went to look for it on our own. So if you’re a DreamScreen owner, be sure to go into the setup screen, then info, and search for updates manually.

Related Stories

HP DreamScreen Review

HP has launched a new platform in the digital display space. I hesitate to call the DreamScreen just a digital picture frame, although it does do that. It also has a Pandora application, plays video, streams content from a networked computer, connects to thousands of Internet radio stations, interfaces with Snapfish and Facebook and has both wired and wireless Internet connections. So it’s more than a frame – it truly is a new platform.

HP DreamScreen Specs

• DreamScreen 100 – 10.2″ Display – 800×480 pixel resolution
• DreamScreen 130 – 13.3″ Display – 800×480  pixel resolution
• 2GB internal memory (1.5GB available)
• Contrast 350:1
• Stereo Speakers
• Headphone out jack
• USB Host and USB mini
• Media cards supported – CF, MS, MMC, SD, xD
• Video formats – AVI, MPG, MP4
• Photo formats – BMP, JPEG, PNG
• Audio formats – MP3, PCM, WMA, AAC
• Touch screen button
• Remote control
• Ethernet – WiFi

DreamScreen Setup

The DreamScreen packaging is thankfully minimalistic, with just the things you need, all nicely packaged. The DreamScreen can operate entirely on its own, but configuration is a little easier via the included PC software. Through the software you can configure username and passwords for the applications like Pandora, Facebook and Snapfish. The same interface can be used to drag and drop photos onto the frame – more on that later.

PC Screen

As noted though, the frame doesn’t need a PC to get setup. Screw in the metal stand, connect the power cord and you’re ready to roll. Once it’s powered on, you can go straight to photo/video viewing via memory card or configure the wired or wireless network to immediately gain access to the Internet-enabled applications.

Data entry is handled with an onscreen keyboard and the remote control. The system is easy enough to get along with – it’s not like you’re trying to craft detailed emails here. Using the keyboard to enter my wireless security code took a few seconds and I was quickly connected to the Internet.

From a build perspective, the DreamScreen looks great. The high-gloss black back, rounded edges and the way it all blends together makes the unit feel complete and well thought-out. It’s not uncommon in this space to see a display panel that was designed for no particular purpose, being jammed into a shell to make a digital frame. HP definitely designed the DreamScreen with a purpose and it shows; the end result is polished and clean.

DreamScreen Interface

We often ridicule digital frames because they have dreadful user interfaces. Because HP is viewing the DreamScreen as a platform, they spent a lot of time thinking about how users will want to interact with the product. And it shows – at power on, users are presented with an easy to understand scrolling list of applications. Using the remote or on-screen buttons, it’s easy to scroll through the list of options to pick what you want. They’re all clearly labeled with a launch icon for each.

Once in an application, there’s generally a brief setup screen. Users can also access settings via the options button on the remote. Navigation is generally very intuitive though. The only hiccup we’ve had is that to get back to the home screen to select a new application for instance, it takes a press and hold of the back button. It would have been nice for HP to add a clearly labeled home button on their remote. At this point users know what to expect when pressing a house-shaped button, manipulating a back button isn’t fluid.

We’ve talked a good deal about the remote already, and in terms of being able to do everything you need to do, it’s great. The 12 buttons do it all, including turning the frame on and off. When you’re done with the remote, there’s a little caddy on the back of the frame to house it. This is a small touch, but nice, as most frames just have you leave the remote nearby, adding clutter and a higher potential to lose the remote.

Aside from the remote, users can manage the frame with touch sensitive controls in the lower right corner of the frame. The controls remain hidden until your hand activates the sensor to light the buttons. The eight buttons handle all of the frame’s tasks – so in the event you lose the remote, you won’t lose any functionality. The buttons are responsive and it’s great that they fade away when not in use. However, they don’t always light up right away and it’s easy to make an accidental button press. I had to login into Pandora online a few times to remove accidental thumbs down ratings.

Memory/File Sources

HP has included just about any conceivable way to get files on the DreamScreen. There are two multi-card readers. The first handles the small cards including SD, MMC, MS and xD. The other slot handles CF and micro drives. If you have files on USB drives, no problem, there’s a USB host port for that.

The DreamScreen has 1.5GB of internal storage, after you delete the setup videos and stock art that come on the frame. Files can easily be transferred to the frame by copying from a memory card. There’s also the drag and drop method on the PC. Lastly the frame can be connected directly to a computer, where it will show up as an external storage device. The DreamScreen supports foldering – so it’s very easy to sort files by folder and control which ones are viewed in a slideshow for instance.

The ability to drag and drop files using the PC application is no small thing, this is only the second time we’ve even seen this method attempted. When setting up my frame, I took my 2009 folder of photos and just dropped it on the application. It took a while to move 700MB, but the job got done with minimal effort. Right now HP takes the entire files as they are, but I wouldn’t be surprised if along the way they add a feature that re formats the files for use on the frame. Loading full-sized images is a waste of storage space, but many users don’t know how to, or take the time, to re-size their images for a digital frame. You can also use the desktop software to manage your account information for the Internet-based applications.

If you want to take full advantage of the Internet connection, the DreamScreen can also stream files from a connected device on the network. The only trick here is there’s a little work required to enable file sharing on a computer and router. HP includes good documentation on how to enable this, but any time users have to edit router settings, there’s a certain percentage that will be frustrated. Even so, if you have a media server, this option is definitely nice to have and gives the DreamScreen a tremendous amount of flexibility.

DreamScreen Applications

Out of the box, the DreamScreen comes with several applications that are both geared toward sharing life’s memories and entertainment. HP is off to a great start with their application library. While there’s no public API that will let developers push the DreamScreen with new applications, HP fully intends to release more applications and firmware updates. In fact, our review unit has already found and installed a firmware update, which is good to see, we like HP being proactive about making the DreamScreen progressively better.

We’ll break down each of the applications below to give you a better understanding of what the DreamScreen can do:

Pandora

It’s easiest to start here because Pandora is easily one of the best applications on the DreamScreen. The integration is absolutely fantastic. The experience is similar to the PC or iPod flavors – users get access to all of their stations and songs play complete with cover art, track details and the ability to do thumbs up/down. Pandora is fully integrated with the user’s account, so thumbs up/down are recorded and saved, though it doesn’t appear that the DreamScreen application can show the thumbs up that users have issued through another interface. That’s likely just a bug that HP can resolve however.

The listening experience is certainly enjoyable, I currently have the DreamScreen on my desk and I leave it on Pandora a good portion of the day. The remote handles the volume, pausing and song ratings. Pandora will also play in the background as you run some of the other applications like photo viewer and slideshows.

HP SmartRadio

Access to thousands of Internet radio stations is promising. I was able to add some of my favorites like ESPN radio and Fox News, but not without issues. The way HP has you add stations is nearly unusable, unless you have a lot of time and patience. To add a station you can sort by location (country) or genre.  So if you want radio from Afghanistan, you’re actually okay, since there are two stations to choose from, but go try to find your favorite station from the US. You can view them by most popular or alphabetically – both are horrible options for finding something you know you’re looking for. There’s no way to search by station name and you can’t drill-down to state or city. This issue is fixable though, we’ll see how HP responds.

It would also be nice to have a more immersive experience. After looking at what they did with Pandora, the SmartRadio screens are pretty blah. Adding additional data like a station logo, what’s playing (artist info) and the like would be a nice touch.

Facebook

Like the Pandora integration, the Facebook application is pretty slick. While it’s not entirely full-featured, what you do get is a stream of status updates from your friends, organized chronologically. You can also browse their photo libraries by selecting a user. If you’re subscribed to events, there’s a tab for that as well.

The main downside is that you don’t get full access to the things friends post, only status updates. You also can’t issue status updates of your own, though you certainly could with the onscreen keyboard. Even so, the application looks good and is certainly a nice first effort.

Weather

HP has included a beautiful weather page in an integration with Weather Bug. The screen shows current conditions and a four day forecast. To select your city, just enter in the zip code or use the search feature to type in your location. The main problem with the Weather channel is that it only supports a single city, though the options screen leads you to believe there’s a way to enter more. In a future release it would be great to be able to view a localized video forecast. We’d also like to see a way to slice in the weather with other functions like the clock – especially in the morning.

Calendar

The calendar shows month views and users can page through by month to move forward in the calendar. We’re going to toss this feature in the useless category right now though. There’s no way to add or view events, they didn’t even include national holidays. There’s a lot more that can be done here, but for now it’s a total pass, unless you really want to know what day of the week October 13th is.

Clock

Beyond doing what you’d expect – display time, the clock can operate in a dual timezone mode, clock with calendar, or clock with slideshow. The latter is pretty useful, it makes for one of the better display options on the DreamScreen. The clock itself can be run in analog or digital mode, though there aren’t faces to choose from within those categories. The clock does shift from blue to red at 6PM however, to be a little more subtle in the evening.

If you’re using the DreamScreen bedside, you’ll be glad to know there are three alarm settings. There are a few sound options, but the frame doesn’t play a sample, so it’s impossible to know what they sound like unless you set the alarm, listen, then go back and repeat the process. You can also awake to music on the device. There’s not a visual indicator that an alarm is set and active, that would be a nice touch.

Video

The DreamScreen supports video playback of AVI, MPG and MP4 files. Unfortunately all the AVI files I moved over that were shot on a Canon digital camera struggled to play, often causing the frame to kick me out to the main menu after a few seconds. I know the DreamScreen can play video, the included videos looked great and played well. I’m not entirely sure why mine failed, but for now we’ll look at it as an isolated incident until more people experiment with video playback on the device.

Photo

Within the photo app users can browse their images by date, folder, view all or connect to the PC to see shared photos. From here users can also launch a slideshow, which has several options including 17 transitions and timing options from 3 seconds to 24 hours. Since the native resolution of the display is widescreen, there’s also an option to fit the images to screen, so there’s no black border. This option is on by default and I actually didn’t even notice my pictures were slightly edited, so I’d say HP did well here.

Music

The Music player supports a wide variety of formats including MP3, AAC and WMA. This is a comprehensive lineup, besting most other products in this class. Users can view their music by album, artist, genre or view a list of all songs. Along with songs stored on the device or attached media, the DreamScreen can stream music from the PC as well.

Snapfish

HP’s Snapfish integration is well done, users can easily log into the service on the DreamScreen to have access to their photos stored on their online service. Users can even launch a slideshow based on only these photos. There is however, no way to create a slideshow that includes data from Snapfish and photos stored on the device.

Setup

Not really an application on its own, but users can configure the device name, time zone, time and date format, brightness, network properties, time sync and the like. There’s also an option to set a time on and time off for the device, so it doesn’t run overnight. Users can also manually check for software updates, though the device can be configured to do this automatically, and there’s a self diagnostic routine to help users troubleshoot issues.

Display

The DreamScreen display is possibly the best we’ve seen on a device like this. HP has done well here to offer a high resolution display in both models, with vibrant colors and fantastic viewing angles. Users can control the brightness setting, the default is 10, the maximum. I’m actually surprised that at this level the colors look so good, they often get washed out at higher brightness levels. The blacks are held well and images with a lot of color aren’t over-saturated. Overall the display is very impressive.

The display panels are widescreen though, so users will need to edit pictures to get them to display properly in native resolutions, or let HP do the resizing work itself. As noted, we were pleased with the onboard editing the frame does on its own. The DreamScreen is also meant to be displayed horizontally, so it’s best to leave the portrait shots off.

Speakers

Generally we spend little time on the speakers in devices like this because they’re usually pretty bad. In this case though HP had to do better, with all the multimedia functions and all. The stereo speakers won’t blow anyone away, but they’re better than most notebooks and clock radios – and better than almost all other frames we’ve tested. I can listen to Pandora or the Internet Radio for hours and enjoy the experience, which is the key hurdle here. If you want more, there’s a headphone jack to add headphones or external speakers. Overall though we’re happy with the sound output.

Conclusion

There’s so much to love about the DreamScreen – the applications are generally very well done and HP is planning to offer more to expand the functionality of the platform. The display is fantastic as well. What HP is going to struggle with though to a certain degree is making the consumer understand just what exactly a DreamScreen is. They don’t want to call it a photo frame – it’s more than that. They can’t really call it a media player, that conjures up images of streaming Internet video with output to an HDTV.

It sits somewhere between, really trying to define that space generally referred to as the third screen in a home, the first two being the computer and TV. And if you look at that category and what’s out there now, HP has done a fantastic job of giving us something usable, something that adds value, in that third screen category. To this point, digital frames have attempted to accomplish such a thing, but they always fail on interface when they try to do much more than display photos. Even the online services like FrameChannel and Microsoft’s FrameIt fall well short in delivering a good experience.

So what HP has done with the DreamScreen is really define what the third screen can be. They didn’t just strap features onto an existing digital frame, the DreamScreen is new from the ground up. It’s what we said in the beginning, a platform. And it’s probably a platform that can finally get people to believe that the idea of the third screen is relevant.

Pros

• Fantastic display
• Great content integration from Pandora, Facebook, Snapfish
• Usable interface
• Future applications planned

Cons

• Some applications need help (Calendar, SmartRadio)
• Might struggle to get out of the shadow of “regular” digital frames

Bottom Line

The price point of $249 for the 10.2″ model and $299 for the 13.3″ model might give some buyers pause, but keep in mind that there are no service fees and all of the online content from Pandora, Snapfish and SmartRadio comes without cost too. Given what the DreamScreen can do out of the box, coupled with where HP is telling us they’re going to take the platform, the value proposition makes sense for those who want a screen that’s more than a digital frame.

4.5 stars out of 5 – Editor’s Choice

On the digital frame side, the ICF-CL75iP features a 7″ widescreen display with 800×40 pixel resolution. They’ve included 1GB of internal memory and a USB port; though it’s not clear if there’s a multicard reader as well. Photos can be loaed via USB drive, internal memory or from the iPod. When not in use, the iPod cradle retracts into the base of the frame.

Sony’s definitely looking for a bedroom placement with the ICF-CL75iP. The included alarm clock is quite robust, offering to wake you to music, FM radio, soothing sounds (waves, gulls, etc.) or a 10 second voice recording of your own.

If you need more entertainment, the ICF-CL75iP plays music from your iPod, in addition to mp3 and WMA audio files stored on the internal memory. On the video side the unit supports MP4, Motion JPEG and AVI file types. The report does not mention whether or not the frame can handle video playback from the iPod.

All of these featured are piled in an attractive device that if released at $150 will be a very attractive price point.

via SonyInsider

Other highlights include a miniUSB port for connecting to a PC for easy image transfer, multi-card reader with support for MS, SD, MMC, xD and CF cards and an auto orientation sensor that rotates your photos depending on the placement of the frame. Like the other Sony frames, this one has a clock/calendar mode and supports slideshows with 10 transitions and varying speed options.

The Sony DPF-D72N/BQ digital photo frame will be available for $150 MSRP in October.

According to the Mintpass site, the concept is designed for the older generation, who doesn’t want technology to be difficult, yet they still want some of the benefits, like having all their family photos on a digital frame. But most last the skill required to get a picture from film or even their digital camera onto the internal memory of a frame. Many digital frames try to solve this with online services and whatnot, assuming the kids will maintain the photo feeds. In this concept though, Mintpass has gone with dual digital cameras to give the user total control.

There’s a 1.3 megapixel camera on the front of the frame used for self portraits and a 2 megapixel camera on the back, with flash. Once the shots are taken, they go straight into the photo rotation on the frame. Of course there are the other usual features like a USB drive reader, multi-card reader and internal memory.

While it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a version of this frame released; there is value in the innovation. While the printer embedded in a frame didn’t really take off, this idea appears more practical and could find a segment of the market where users would appreciate it.

The lamp comes in five colors and manages to be relatively stylish, something that most combo-frames we’ve seen don’t pull off well. The display is standard aspect ratio and offers a 320×240 pixel resolution. The base offers integrated speakers with volume controls and the frame supports JPEG, AVI and MP3 playback.

The desk lamp digital frame should be released in a few weeks, pricing has not yet been announced.

Kodak EasyShare D830

The net result is these are high-quality basic frames, designed for those who want an easy to use frame with great display, but don’t need the extra bells and whistles like wireless connectivity. These frames also offer the ability to swap out the faceplate, so users can update the look at any time.

Other highlights of the D830 and D1030 includes a wood frame, plug-and-play operation—simply insert a memory card or USB flash drive containing digital pictures and a slideshow automatically begins, dynamic collage mode and clock/calendar views.

The D830 and D1030 join Kodak’s other new release, the battery enabled EasyShare S730, which we recently reviewed.

The Kodak EasyShare D830 will be available in August for a suggested $139. The EasyShare D1030 will be release din September in Europe for €169 but should eventually be available in the US as well.

Kodak also released an HD media player today that has several digital picture display modes. Visit HomeTheaterInABoxReview.com for more info on the Kodak Theater HD Player.

Update 10/10/09 – Kodak EasyShare D830 Review Posted

Toshiba is pitching the FrameChannel integration aggressively, noting all of the content and social networking possibilities. True, users can access FrameChannl to integrate with sites like Flickr, Photobucket, and Facebook. But the real trick is how easy is the frame to use and how does it look? We’ll have to wait for our review unit to see how the interface works, but from a design perspective the new DMF102XKU and DMF82XKU look pretty sharp.

Toshiba has been all about the high-gloss design in their consumer electronics of late and the new set of digital frames is no different. The 8″ model pictured above (DMF82XKU) and the 10″ model (DMF102XKU) both feature black frames and acrylic front with reflective rim. The 8″ model will also come with a while frame (DMF82XWU).

While Toshiba was a little coy about specs in the press release it’s fair to assume there’s a multi-card reader and at least 1GB of RAM to go with the “high resolution” display. The frames also feature an internal tilt senor and calendar/clock functions.

All three Toshiba digital frames will be available in August. The 8″ models will retail for $179.99 and the 10″ $229.99.

Update – Toshiba has confirmed 1GB of internal memory and an 800×480 pixel widescreen.

Update – 12/17/09 – Toshiba DMF82XKU Review Posted

Kodak is hoping they’ve hit on the right formula with the new EasyShare S730, a 7-inch wide-format frame that spices things with options like video and audio playback, several unique display modes, plenty of internal memory, and a touch interface. Plus, a built-in battery lets you get the frame off the wall or down from the shelf and get an up close look at your favorite family photos. But will this combination of technology and simplicity spell photo frame perfection?

Build and Design

Sleek and modern, the S730 might just be the most visually appealing contemporary-styled frame I’ve reviewed. The compact but heavy S730 exhibits the kind of well-considered design that succeeds in looking high-tech without looking “techy.”

A dark red, plexi-covered surround extends a couple inches in every direction beyond the S730’s 7-inch screen, and a simple chrome bezel around the edge of the frame finishes the look. Obviously, this design means that interchangeable frame surrounds or other color/style customization options aren’t available for the S730, but the frame’s stylish, neutral appearance should blend in well in most home or office settings. Likewise, excellent build quality all around makes the S730 seem like a high-quality device–a clear step above many of the anonymous frames in this size group.

Like many frames, the S730 has no visible controls on the front of the device. Rather than relying on a touchscreen or remote, however, the S730’s front-side controls are integrated into the frame using Kodak’s slick Quick Touch Border technology.

The frame’s Quick Touch Border is made up of a series of touch-sensitive “buttons” built into the right-hand side of the frame’s surround. Tap this area of the frame and the buttons’ LED indicators appear next to a list of on-screen options that varies depending on which display mode you’re in. A pair of arrows at the bottom of the display also appear when the touch system is activated, providing dedicated scrolling controls. In general, though, the Quick Touch system provides a potentially infinite number of controls from its five right-hand buttons, and their location to the side of the screen keeps fingerprints off the display itself.

Of course, there are a few actual buttons on the display as well: a power button, volume control for music and video playback, and a button that shuffles the frame through its various display modes, are all found on top of the back panel. A pair of rear-facing speakers provide audio output from beneath the back panel as well. The speakers used in this case are larger than your typical photo frame speakers, face slightly sideways for better forward projection, and in general, produce realistic, TV-quality audio as a result.

A built-in stand firmly supports the beefy S730 in either landscape or portrait orientation, although the 15:9 display’s wider, shorter aspect ratio makes the screen awkwardly slender for many uses in portrait mode. There are also options for wall mounting the display in either orientation, but again, a total thickness of just over 1.5 inches by my measurement makes the frame look a bit odd hanging from a wall. Given its smaller display dimensions and substantial depth, it’s clear that the S730 works better in a shelf or desktop environment.

Building on this idea, the S730 is one of only a handful of digital frames to incorporate a built-in rechargeable battery in addition to its AC wall power source. When fully charged, the battery is good for about an hour of slideshow display (less if you incorporate music, or play videos), allowing you to show off snaps stored on the frame to family and friends.

Memory/Picture Sources

The S730 packs a healthy 1GB of internal memory. Per Kodak, this should be room for around 8,000 images–assuming, that is, you resize them to match the frame’s resolution first. To this end, Kodak’s supplied Digital Display Software takes care of as much of this process as you care to allow. Once installed, the software can be tasked with finding all of the pictures on your PC, resizing them, and transferring them to the frame–a process that Kodak calls “syncing”–all while leaving the originals unmolested on your hard drive, of course.

In a nice touch, frame memory management isn’t restricted to the supplied software. When connected via the supplied USB cable, you can opt to simply view the S730’s memory as a mass storage device–just like a connected flash drive or external hard drive.

Speaking of USB, the S730 has a pair of ports: a full-size one for hosting thumb drives, as well as a mini-USB connection that interfaces with the included cable for connecting the device to a computer.

On the other side of the frame, the S730 features dual card slots that support all of the common memory card types (SD/SDHC, xD, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro Duo) except Compact Flash. Regardless of whether the shots were coming from a USB drive or a card, the S730 had no problems finding images during our test. When a new memory type is inserted, the frame automatically jumps into a slideshow display of the images contained on that memory source; assuming you have MP3s stored on same external memory, the frame will even fire up some background music for your slideshow automatically.

The S730 gives you several options for copying files to the frame’s copious internal memory, and in each case the process is relatively intuitive. In typical fashion, you can select all images (as well as video and MP3 audio files) for transfer, or pick files individually using a multi-select option. To conserve memory, the frame downsizes all images stored in its memory to screen resolution by default. If you’d prefer to use the S730 as a storage device for full-size image files instead, this option can be disabled.

Display Modes

The S730 features four basic display modes: slideshow, collage, clock, and calendar (plus the ability to view single pictures and videos). If pictures are loaded into the internal memory or an external memory source is inserted, the device defaults into slideshow mode. Like most frames in this class, the S730 provides a nice range of options for tweaking your slideshow, including the ability to choose transitions, set how long you want each image to stay on the screen, shuffle the order of playback, or even find images taken on the same day as a specific shot and play only those (using the frame’s “Find Related” tool).

As noted, the S730 also automatically plays stored MP3s as background music during the slideshow. For even more involved slideshows, however, the supplied software lets you assemble and save a show composed of selected images and music using a PowerPoint-style interface, save these shows, and transfer them to your device for playback.

The automatic collage mode is equally nice, combining several shots into a visually interesting preset layout. The basic control options, including duration and transition style, are roughly the same as those found for the slideshow mode.

A basic but handsome clock mode, and a similarly designed calendar mode, are nice touches for desktop use in particular, and as before, the S730 gives a decent range of control over the image playback in these modes.

The S730 also supports video playback, and I had no trouble playing standard-def AVI and Motion JPEG videos from both a camcorder and a digital compact on the frame–even when playing directly from an SD card, the videos were rendered smoothly, and the Kodak’s excellent speakers are really appreciated when viewing videos.

Menu System

Clunky menus are a weak point on many photo frames, but the S730’s interface is carefully thought out and easy to navigate–once you get used to using the occasionally tricky Quick Touch Border, that is. Click on the menu icon from any screen and the S730 calls up a clear, to-the-point master menu.

From this screen, you can enter any of device’s playback modes (although, as noted, a mode button the frame’s top panel also cycles through these four modes). Likewise, this menu provides access to a thumbnail view that lets you view, select, move, or delete both images and videos, as well as a setup menu for configuring basic frame options. All in all, the layout, with its combination of text and icons, is easy to follow and organizes the S730’s options and functions into logical basic groupings.

Display

The S730’s 7-inch screen is a little bit smaller than the displays on most other frames at this price point, and owing to its laptop-style 15:9 aspect ratio (compared to the typical 4:3 ratio of most frames), a little bit wider as well. A two-position stand and a built-in orientation sensor allow the frame to be set up in either landscape or portrait orientation.

The combination of this auto-rotate function and the frame’s ability to interpret image orientation data means that, in most cases, landscape images show up in landscape orientation and portrait images in portrait orientation regardless of which way the frame itself is set up.

Kodak touts this frame’s excellent contrast ratio and vibrancy, and my experience with the device backs up these claims. Colors are bright and strong, with deep blacks and sparkling highlights. Viewing angles are good to excellent in every direction, and there’s an option to adjust screen brightness (though no controls for color or contrast) in the frame’s setup menu. A “Perfect Touch” option applies Kodak’s proprietary color processing technology to displayed shots as well, further amping up vivid colors.

Extra Features

The S730’s most significant bonus feature is almost certainly its built-in rechargeable battery. Those who tried out the S730 during my test of the device enjoyed the ability to pick up the frame, carry it around, and show off pictures to others without being “tied” to a power cord at all times.

Equally, Kodak’s Perfect Touch technology makes colorful snapshots look even better, and the “Find Related” tool provides one-touch access to photos or videos shot on the same day–pretty cool stuff for a basic photo frame.

Like most frames these days, the S730 also comes equipped with auto-on/auto-off options, set up via a timer in the frame’s date and time configuration area.

Conclusion

With a great design, straightforward menus, consistent performance, and some nice extras, it’s hard to find much to say against the Kodak EasyShare S730. A slightly larger screen at this price point would have been nice, and the 15:9 aspect ratio is a bit of an odd choice. Alternatively, Kodak has further refined its Quick Touch technology for even better performance, and the S730’s rechargeable power proves to be more of a nicety than I expected. A great screen, smooth video playback (with good audio as well!), and supplied software that actually adds value to the package, rather than simply compounding frustration, all make the S730 an excellent choice for tech-savvy users and general consumers alike.

Pros:

• Stylish design and robust build
• Unique, easy-to-use interface
• Excellent display
• Supplied software adds some nice features

Cons:

• Display is a little small, and oddly sized for 4:3 images
• No interchangeable frames/mats

4.5 out of 5 stars – Editor’s Choice

If you’re among those who share this sentiment, who feel like digital photo frames have been running away from where you’d like them to be–in terms of price, features, and level of complexity–in the last year, you’re exactly the kind of user ViewSonic is hoping to reach out to with their new simple and affordable TrueView series. A familiar name among display manufacturers with a growing presence in digital picture frames as well, ViewSonic announced nine new frames at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Along with its 7- and 10.4-inch siblings (the VFD720 and VFD1020, respectively), the Viewsonic TrueView VFD820 represents the manufacturer’s new TrueView line–a series of no-frills frames designed to offer high-quality picture playback with easier operation and a lower price point than many current multi-function displays provide.

Build and Design

The core of the TrueView VFD820’s design and purpose can be summed up in one sentence: This is a frame designed to store and display your photos. That’s really all there is to it. Which is to say, if you were hoping to watch home movies, stream RSS feeds from the web, or pull pictures from your friends’ Flickr accounts, the TrueView frames aren’t the ticket.

Built around an 8-inch, 800×600 display, the VFD820 also eschews modern styling in favor of a classic, matted-photo look that should blend in well in home or office settings. This discreet design seeks to minimize the space-age, “high tech” often associated with digital frames, and with a dark wood surround (the VFD820’s frame comes in either black or dark brown) and a plate of glass over the actual display, the VFD820 is one of the more visually handsome and unassuming frames we’ve reviewed.

Incidentally, the VFD820 is also one of the more solidly constructed devices we’ve tested, especially considering its sub-$100 price point. Construction is dense and feels robust, and the VFD820’s relatively thin build (the display only extends about half an inch beyond the back of the frame surround) makes the device ideally suited for wall hanging. To this end, the TrueView is equipped with a pair of nail recesses, allowing the frame to be wall-mounted in portrait orientation only–which makes sense, given that there’s no automatic orientation sensor in this display.

The VFD820’s desktop stand is reasonably solid as well, attaching into a twist-and-rotate socket on the back of the frame. Getting the stand locked in was a little difficult the first time around, requiring more force than might be expected to twist the prop into position. Once you’re locked in, though, the stand provides solid support for desktop use (although the addition of some rubber pads to keep the VFD820 from sliding on slick table surfaces would have been appreciated).

Connections and controls include a pair of USB ports (a full-size one for flash drives, and a mini-USB socket for connecting the frame to a computer) and a power jack on one side, a single shared-slot SD and Memory Stick card reader on the other, and an array of seven menu navigation buttons on the back panel.

A slim wireless remote–which proved to be more useful than the clearly marked but hard-to-reach panel controls–as well as a mini to full-size USB cable, are included in the box as well.

Memory/Picture Sources

In keeping with its minimalist overall design philosophy, the VFD820 cuts to the chase on memory media support. Out back, you’ll find slots for common SD/SDHC/MMC as well as Sony MemoryStick formats; photographers who capture images to flagging xD format, or who use older or high-end cameras that still shoot on Compact Flash cards, however, will have to transfer files via the USB connection instead.

Per its specs, the VFD820 is capable of both host and slave USB connectivity (via the aforementioned full-size and mini-USB ports), meaning that you can pull images directly from flash drives in addition to transferring them from a computer using the supplied cable. In both cases, the TrueView’s performance was flawless: Images were pulled from several different USB flash drives without incident, and the VFD820 shows up as a basic mass storage device when connected to a PC, making computer-side management of the frame’s internal memory a snap for savvier users.

The VFD820 sports an impressive 2GB of internal memory, providing plenty of space for storing your photos. Images stored in the frame’s memory can be browsed from a thumbnail-display screen, and although the frame doesn’t automatically resize images that stored in its memory (note that it does, however, play back images at screen size rather than full resolution by default; this can be changed via a menu option), 2GB provides plenty of room for storing even your full-size JPEGs–easily more than 500 shots from your typical 12-megapixel digital camera.

Display Modes

The VFD820 is primarily a slideshow device. Power on the frame and it will immediately begin displaying images loaded into the memory if no card or flash drive is inserted. Plug in one of these external memory sources and after a few seconds of buffering (depending on the file sizes of your shots) the frame will jump to a slideshow of these images instead. By default, shots are shown in the sort order they appear on the card, but a “Shuffle” menu option seems to do a nice job of mixing things up.

Viewers can opt to manual pause, advance, or reverse the slideshow by pressing the appropriate navigational button, either on the back of the frame or on the remote. Additionally, a zoom button on the remote provides two steps of additional zooming that can be cycled through by pressing the button.

Like most frames these days, the VFD820 lets you dial in several parameters related to the slideshow. Viewers can select a per-image display time ranging from three seconds to a full hour. Similarly, the VFD820 supports a fairly typical list of nine “Powerpoint style” shot-to-shot transitions; a menu option lets you lock in a specific transition style (scroll from left for every transition, for instance), present a different randomly selected transition each time, or disable transitions altogether.

As mentioned previously, users can also turn on an image shuffle mode as well as set shots to display at full-resolution (rather than scaling to fit the screen) in the same menu. All in all, the options presented here are simple and straightforward. My only complaint is that you have to dig several layers down into the device’s menu to get to these basic slideshow presentation options.

As noted, users can also browse photos in either the internal memory or any inserted external source by selecting “Memory” (or “SD/MMC/MS” or “USB” for external sources) from the frame’s main menu. In addition to the previously mentioned thumbnail view, a complete list of all files found on each memory source can also be called up in this mode. Incidentally, this view is, as far as I can tell, the only one that allows you to copy files from external to internal memory; more on this process in the next section.

Menu System

The VFD820’s menu system is, like the frame itself, simple and generally well-designed. Options are organized into four main groups (Memory, Clock, Calendar, and Setup), though you’ll spend most of your time in either the memory or setup areas.

The VFD820’s submenus are equally streamlined and well-organized, though at times the labeling of options is (to put it politely) less than self-explanatory. My personal favorite? The mysterious “Auto Run” function, which provides a list of options (Main Menu, Clock, etc.), but doesn’t appear to do anything when selected. Unfortunately, the manual is often equally unhelpful–although it does amusingly warn users that the VFD820 doesn’t support certain “unpopular” memory card types. Take that, you holdout xD users!

On the whole, while the menus could probably be a little better thought out, everything is simple enough that even tech novices should latch on to accessing basic functions in no time. The one exception to this rule, it seems, is the great difficultly and lack of transparency involved in transferring files from USB drives or memory cards to the VFD820’s internal memory. In order to accomplish this task, you have to enter the somewhat daunting file-list view, and then press the right arrow to select each file you want to copy. Again, as best we can tell, there’s no way to batch copy an entire card’s worth of files.

Once the file is selected–and this is where things get interesting–you’ll have to reach to the back of the frame and press the “M” button (no, pressing the seemingly redundant “Menu” button on the remote will not, in this case, suffice), and then navigate a few more-confusing-than-they-should-be pop-up menus to get the file from point A to point B.

For transferring lots of files, this slow and unintuitive process simply doesn’t work, and I quickly resorted to connecting the frame to my computer when moving more than a handful of files. To ViewSonic’s credit, I like that you can not only move files from external to internal memory, but can go the other way as well–great for throwing a few shots stored on your frame onto a thumb drive to share with friends or family. It certainly would have been nice, though, if the whole process weren’t so laborious, and even more than that, hadn’t required a trip to the manual to figure out how to transfer files in the first place.

Display

An 8-inch, 800×600 display certainly isn’t anything unique to ViewSonic, as most frames in this class will get you these sorts of specs (though, it should be noted, the 10.4 VDF1020 steps up to a 1024×768 display). But the manufacturer’s experience in developing other LCD technologies has clearly paid off here. The display is bright and colorful with impressively wide viewing angles and very little loss of contrast until you get to the extremes of the viewable range.

A series of menu options also allow you to fine-tune the display’s saturation, hue, and contrast, and while the interface isn’t intuitive (it’s buried deep in a menu, and you can’t see the effects of these changes on the screen in real time), being able to make these sorts of tweaks is a nice bonus feature.

Extra Features

In addition to its basic slideshow function, the TrueView includes both clock and calendar modes. Both are extremely basic in their implementation; the only real “option” in each mode involves turning on or off the image display in these modes (and if you disable it, the VDF820 just leaves an empty black box in its place). Good enough for an office desk, I suppose, but not exactly thrilling stuff.

One truly useful inclusion is the frame’s auto power-on and power-off functions. While a motion sensor that powers on the frame only when people are around would have been even slicker, the ability to set up the frame to only display images for part of the day (in the evenings when you’re likely to be at home, for instance) is an obvious power-saving addition.

Conclusion

Okay, so the VDF820 didn’t exactly bowl us over with its features, and even given this simplicity, some aspects of the frame’s interface design and overall functionality could have been executed more cleanly. Even so, after spending time with a whole lot of multi-function frames that never quite live up to the hype of their whiz-bang features sets–and an equal number of budget single-function frames that leave a lot to be desired in the way of fit, finish, and functionality–the VDF820 is a breath of fresh air: stylish, simple, affordable, and functional. It’s certainly not the best frame–even the best single-function frame–we’ve ever reviewed, but given the VDF820’s nice construction, low price, and (generally) dead simple operation, it’s a solid choice if your sole interest is displaying photos.

Pros:

• Simple operation
• Excellent, vibrant display
• Low price

Cons:

• Few extra features
• Some menus and options can be clunky

4 out of 5 stars

The S730 also integrates a new feature called “Picture Finder” Picture Finder is designed to help people find images they may have forgotten about as their digital photo collections grow. While users are viewing a photo in any viewing mode they can press the Picture Finder button and the frame will automatically display more pictures from that date.

The S730 features several viewing modes. In full-screen Slideshow, pictures scroll individually with an option to show both images and either a clock or calendar. The other option is Collage mode, which scrolls through an entire collection and shows four randomly selected images at a time. To make it easy to switch between modes, Kodak has included a mode button on top of the frame that cycles through the playback modes.

While the actual display size and resolution were not released as part of this announcement, the name suggests it will be a 7″ display. Kodak has also been trending toward widescreen frames lately so it’s reasonable to guess the S730 will also feature a 16:9 widescreen.

Other highlights include an updated version of  Kodak’s touch border interface. The touch-sensitive controls are on the front of the frame and feature a motion sensor that illuminates controls as your hand approaches the frame. The S730 also includes an integrated speaker and supports audio and video playback.

Kodak EasyShare S730 Specs

• Rechargeable battery with one-hour capacity
• 1 GB internal memory
• Mercury-free LCD panel
• Updated Quick Touch Border
• Dynamic collage mode that displays several pictures at the same time
• Mode button on top of frame enables easy toggling between viewing modes
• Multi-card reader, USB drive support 
• Support for audio and video playback
• Optional carry case – $19.99

The Kodak EasyShare S730 will first be available in Europe this month for £149. The S730 will hit the US in September for $139.

Update 7/17/09 – Kodak EasyShare S730 Review Posted