A Digital Photo Frame that Gets It Right
- January 16th, 2007
- Read 838 times
- 6 Comments
The only reason digital photo frames haven’t totally taken off is because they tend to be fugly affairs, the tech manufacturers that market them being far more concerned with the technical specifications of the unit that its aesthetic appeal. That’s why we’re glad that makers like i-mate are bringing decent-looking frames to market.
Looking like the monitor of a G4-era iMac, with a white (interchangable?) frame encased in clear plastic, the Momento has 7-inch 800×400 pixel display and can show photos via WiFi or memory stick via USB. In addition, it has its own memory card reader, so it can pull images from SD (or Memory Stick, or MMC, or xD or whatever), a nice feature indeed. But there’s more to this frame than just showing photos.
The two intriguing features that set this digital frame apart from its brethren are its support for Windows Vista’s SlideShow technology via WiFi, and its audio capabilities. We’re guessing it can show video, too, meaning that if the price is decent, this device would be a great alternative to an Airport Express as a way to get your music from your computer to your stereo, and it would look better doing it, too.
We really don’t know much else about this beauty, but we’ll keep you posted as it hits the streets.
i-Mate Momento [Geekzone]
Looks nice. I never understood why people want to play music out of a picture frame though.
Looks like a ripoff of the one I got my Mom for Christmas.
http://www.amazon.com/Ziga-8-inch-Digital-Picture-Frame/dp/B000FMTTN2/sr=8-4/qid=1169036336/ref=sr_1_4/103-3528874-3311837?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden
The Ziga is very nice….standard 4:3 aspect ratio, 640×480 resolution, MP3 & Divx support, etc.
Just don’t expect it to play Divx @ 30fps.
Finally, this one gets it right [almost]. These frames are cool to no end, though still a bit high at $200 bucks.
The sideshow abilities of this frame sound cool, but i guess the price isn’t going to be great. Even the cheap frames on the market at the moment are too expensive for what they do.
This frame has been talked about before (a few months ago). At that point, the company was “A living picture” (were they purchased by i-mate?). It will be for sell at compusa and amazon.com (199.99 for the 7inch, more for the 10 inch).
I bought this 10.4 inch one last xmas…
http://www.digivista.com.au/product_digivista_clearview_10.html
I agree with Bill in that 4:3 ratio 640×480 is far nicer for digital photos - its ok having a good looking screen but whats the use of a 16:9 widescreen when all your photos are 4:3…?
I think prices will definitely come down a lot, as the market opens up to more and more competition from lower cost importers … and I think they are all without exception made in China … meaning right now some companies are making a healthy profit from these items…