Archive for January, 2010
With the new announcement of the iPad from Apple, do we finally have the ultimate photo frame experience. When we launched FrameChannel we used to call a WiFi photo frame with FrameChannel the “iPhone on the wall” … and now with the iPad and our FrameChannel app, this will be a reality. Sure the iPad can do a lot more but when its idle there will be no better experience for photos and information than to use FrameChannel as the perfect screensaver for your Apple iPad. And when you approach the device, FrameChannel will give you one click access to the content that matters to you most.
So believes EETimes! Today, the online publication suggested that “Apple is widely anticipated to roll out an iSlate or iPad system that could act as an e-book reader as well as be able to play movies, check email and act as a digital picture frame when not in use.”
We await tomorrow’s announcement and remain enthusiastic about FrameChannel as the ultimate screensaver for the Apple Tablet! Until tomorrow …
Internally, we often discuss the “sweet spot” for the FrameChannel service. Wikipedia defines a sweet spot as a place where a combination of factors suggest a particularly suitable solution. FrameChannel has been very successful with a variety of connected screens in partnerships with companies such as Sony, Viewsonic, Roku, Toshiba, Samsung, Philips, Kodak, and Motorola. But FrameChannel’s “sweet spot” may soon be defined with Apple’s likely centerpiece announcement this week of their highly anticipated Apple Tablet.
TechCrunch reports that Steve Jobs referring to the soon-to-be-launched Apple Tablet was quoted as saying: “This will be the most important thing I’ve ever done.” Given the magnitude of Jobs’ contribution to the world of content consumption, this is a huge statement. It is a fair bet that the Applet Tablet will be omnipresent within a few years.
So what does Apple’s announcement have to do with FrameChannel’s “sweet spot”? Everything! The Apple Tablet is likely to be the first “always on” PUSH device to enter the home. Today’s devices are focused not on PUSH, but on on-demand information consumption. Today, one goes to the PC to check the weather forecast, the TV to check last night’s game results or to the smart phone to check the traffic report before leaving the house. The combination of the omnipresent Applet Tablet and the capabilities of the FrameChannel service will change this. The personalized content which matters to you will be pushed to this new portable omnipresent screen!
For the time being, you will need to comeback to this website to learn about future FrameChannel announcements, but in the future … yes, they will be pushed to your Apple Tablet.
Many believe that Apple’s pending announcement of the commercial availability of the Apple Tablet will change the consumer technology landscape. I join them in this assessment. The magical Oz of consumer electronics will undoubtedly deliver an experience beyond our wildness information consumption imagination. Widgets, Video-Conferencing, and E-Book functionality are all likely to be included (so report the pundits). But I want more!
I want personalized pushed content! I want a personalized screensaver experience. Yes, I want FrameChannel. I want, I want, I want … Sounding like a spoiled seven year old child, I want my the new Apple Tablet to make me more productive in 2010.
The Alarm Clock widget wakes me up at six and initiates the FrameChannel application which delivers the content which matters to me at that time – local news, national headlines, local weather, weather for the ski house, the Celtics score from last night, the latest pictures from family and friends, the last three Twitter posts regarding our Company, Thinking Screen Media, and the current traffic situation on my route to work – all pushed to my screen! When I arrive at work with my Apple Tablet, FrameChannel delivers the key news from TechCrunch and Engadget and the stock prices that I care about. When I arrive home for dinner, FrameChannel delivers healthy eating tips and relaxing photos from National Geographic during dinner followed by near real-time scoring updates of the Celtics games while I assist my son with his math homework. Yes, all the features predicted by the pundits will be cool, but for me, cool is personalized push content configured on the FrameChannel service. I want, I want, I want it NOW.
