Interview with Alan Phillips, Co-Founder of FrameMedia
FrameChannel is a new content offering for wireless digital picture frames. It is an RSS-based service that allows users to create feeds that include their own photos, as well as third-party content such as news headlines, weather forecasts, jokes, and more. Use of the service, and most content, is free.
FrameChannel launched in early May. It is the first product from FrameMedia, the company that sponsors this website.
To get a better sense of the history of FrameChannel, how it works, and where it will fit into this emerging space, I recently interviewed Alan Phillips, the Co-Founder of FrameMedia.
WPF: What attracted you to this space?
AP: Timing!
Our assumption was that there would be a rapid transition from today’s digital photo frame to the wireless picture frame. Harry Wang of Parks Associates told us that “wireless will be a standard feature — much like WiFi in today’s notebook computers.” With over sixty million households in the United States with high-speed wireless Internet access coupled with the rapidly declining prices of LCD screens, it was clear that the pieces were in place for the emergence of this new technology category.
Digital frame manufacturers and large consumer-electronics manufacturers were telling us of their wireless frame plans, but most had spent very little time thinking through software and content. So we began coding and meeting with content providers to discuss this new opportunity.
Explain FrameChannel for those who haven’t used it yet. What is it, how does it work, etc.?
FrameChannel is a free, web-based service that allows users of wireless picture frames to select, manage, create, and program their frame’s content.
Once registered, the user can manage their photos, invite friends to contribute content, select from 200 content channels, establish rules for content display, create flyers, greeting cards and announcements, pull in feeds from Flickr and other photo-sharing sites, and use their camera phone to populate the frame. We realize that not everyone has a wireless frame (yet), so we developed a screensaver and Google Desktop gadget so that prospective frame purchasers can play with the tool before purchasing a frame.
Why do you believe that this is going to be a substantial market?
Last year there were over 1.5 million digital frames sold. We’ve seen projections as high as 20 million units being shipped in 2010. Big numbers!
Today’s selling proposition for the digital frame is the presentation of a slideshow of static family images. This is interesting for the first couple of weeks but the real value of the digital frame is unlocked when the content becomes dynamic, when family members can publish content remotely (via camera phones or email) and when personal content can be married with other content such as as weather, traffic, news, and images of the day.
Will consumers pay for content when so much online content is free?
We believe that consumers will be willing to pay for selected content, but time will tell. What we do know from our research is that there is a need for an easy-to-use tool for the selection and management of content. Our focus groups tell us that there will be substantial demand for content beyond personal photos. Will the consumers pay for this content or will the content come with sponsorship? My guess is that there will be successes in both camps.
How does this offering benefit users?
Ease of use and wealth of content! FrameChannel offers an easy-to-use web interface for the selection and programming of image content. FrameChannel users choose content and content rules and FrameChannel works in the background to update their frame every fifteen minutes.
We’re focusing on building the largest amount of content for wireless frames. In our initial content plan, we had a stated objective to be the “Library of Congress” for Wireless Frames.
Why will users want content other than their personal pictures at all?
While family photos will likely be the driver to purchase a frame, dynamic news and entertainment content will keep the frames fresh.
How does FrameChannel benefit frame manufacturers?
The key benefits to frame manufacturers are time to market and ease to market. FrameChannel was developed to support the private label requirements of large retail and consumer electronics brands. Our content library was constructed in such a way that frame manufacturers could select the content that they think will be most applicable to their audience and “hang off” the FrameChannel content license agreement.
How does it benefit content providers?
Revenue! Wireless frames create a new revenue opportunity for content providers. For additional revenue streams, photographers have traditionally sold their work through stock photo sites. This new market, coupled with FrameChannel, provides an opportunity for this group to reach the consumer market directly.
What kind of content do you expect will be popular on FrameChannel?
We’ll wait for our users to tell us! Current content includes image channels, news, weather, cartoons, and text-to-image channels (like This Day in History and Daily Joke).
How are you going about creating relationships with frame makers?
WirelessPictureFrame.com has provided a great venue to meet manufacturers and industry players. We have also reached out to companies that have frames today and those are likely to have them in the future.
What success have you had doing this?
We’ve had conversations with dozens of manufacturers and brands and all have been wowed by FrameChannel. Many see FrameChannel as a way to get to market quickly and a way to stay connected with the consumer with ongoing revenue opportunities through content sales and advertising. Others simply don’t want to be in the software business but recognize the importance of a complete solution. In all cases, we’ve been met with great enthusiasm. While we have not made any public announcements yet, there are currently 4 wireless picture frames from different manufacturers running in our office today with the FrameChannel. Stay tuned.
How are you going about creating relationships with content providers?
We lend them a frame! That’s all it takes to understand the future opportunity. The challenge comes in crafting the content license agreements. This is new media and we are working closely with the content providers to address issues of digital rights management, usage reporting, and pricing and/or advertising revenue sharing.
How do content providers create content?
For most content providers, we do all the work. In these “early days,” we want to minimize the friction for the content provider associated with entering this new market. We are building tools that content providers can use when they are ready to do the heavy lifting.
Can individuals create content channels?
Absolutely! FrameChannel users can create content channels easily from within the FrameChannel application and with a few clicks of the mouse. The configuration of the channel is managed by the channel owner. Configuration settings include private, public, single or multiple publishers, automated watermarking, and content moderation.
What devices does FrameChannel work with right now?
We work with any frame that accepts RSS feeds. Today, FrameChannel works with BigeFrames and PhotoVu frames. More will be announced shortly. We envision that all wireless frames will eventually accept RSS feeds.
What’s coming in from FrameChannel/FrameMedia in the next 6-9 months?
Content, content, and more content!
Digital Frame News and Stats, Featured, Industry News, Wireless Picture Frames
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Gary Peet wrote at October 29th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
What would you say if I had an entirely new market for you? I have an invention idea that I would like to share with you. I have a patent attorney who is willing to put together the patent for me, but I would like a company such as yourself to build a prototype for me. In return, I am willing to share the patent. If you are interested and willing to sign a nondisclosure agreement, I will be willing to send you one.