I spent the last few weeks perusing the marketplace, trying to find the best balance between wireless picture frames and that whole concept of “home media convergence” that everyone’s talking about. So here’s the rub- everything tells me this will be as gigantic an industry as everyone says it will be. The problem, though, is that as long as the market fixates on photos (even wireless distribution/acquisition of photos), it’s still just a new way of displaying the same old pictures in the same old birchwood frames. It’s a nice novelty, but they are capable of so much more.
Manufacturers are increasingly realizing the inherent potential of the medium, adding more and more functionality to these wireless displays every day. I look back at movies like Back To The Future, Star Trek, and Minority Report, and I remember the sheer number of little buzzing screens with little household jobs: grocery lists, laundry timers, family videos, television, security systems, climate control, etc…that’s the future. So how are manufacturers answering the call?
A good number of frames play music and videos…okay, but why? This isn’t only the year of the photo-frame. Devices are coming out in droves that send your music, videos, and pictures to your television- where they’re supposed to be watched. But what about using these little smart displays to control media around the home? That’s more like it.
Hopefully in the coming months wireless frames will find their niche in the household. It’s only a matter of time until home automation, news, weather forecasts, WIFI, music, and photos all collide into a messy amalgam of everything we need wherever we need it. Then there’s the job of cleaning it up and creating standards. Now let’s tip our hats to GUI designers and beg Apple to get into the game.
Ten Questions I’m Itching to See Answered:
1) How much will 2010’s digital displays resemble today’s? Will the market be more for those “do-everything displays [control centers] for the digital home” or will the emphasis still be on photos?
2) Will the industry form some sort of standard (rss, xml, webshots, etc.) for aggregating photos from the Internet? Think: an iTunes-like store for scenic content that matches a daily weather forecast…or what about high resolution Monets or Rembrants?
3) With the cost of LCD’s decreasing, can I expect to see a portrait-sized frame-type display for the living room in the next few years? I’ve seen some people cover their plasma/LCD TV’s with paintings- what about combining the two?
4) Can we put yesterday’s displays back to work? What about some “little black box” that’ll turn existing hardware into dedicated photo/information viewers? The market’s inundated with wireless hub products that’ll display photos on your TV (along with videos and music), but what about something simpler- like an “install your old 15in monitor here” kit. Who knows, in 5 years every LCD display I’m using today may be obsolete. This may be an easy (and inexpensive) way to put garage filth to use.
5) How much will it cost? Right now, the only way to get a digital frame into my mother’s house is to buy it for her. When weighing the options (wood, glass and Kodak paper [$20.00] .vs. digital [$200.00]), her decision is fairly easy. Granted, people make this leap. The queen of England has an iPod, and so does the seven-year-old down the street. Both of them could function with a CD player, but they don’t (even given the $200.00 premium).
6) How much will resolution or image quality increase on small displays? Is today’s photorealism tomorrow’s black and white?
7) Who will be the targeted demographic? Baby-boomers (60+ by 2010) or their kids? Will the focus be on ease of use or number of features?
If this is truly as important a market as they say it will be, could it be the beginning of the end of paper photos? Instead of a wallet full of pictures, will every father have a PDA? Instead of developing or printing pictures, will people just go straight to frame? It may sound silly, but it could save some trees.
9) Who will dominate the market? Somebody’s going to take this by the horns and run with it. Samsung? Sony? Apple? Who has the marketing wherewithal to sell this to your grandmother?
10) Will intellectual property lawsuits make a comeback with still images? I know it’s a long shot, but will Time Magazine sue me for downloading their Princess Diana photos without a license?
Below is the press release from Parks Associates, a research firm that covers the digital picture frame industry. They project a huge market for digital picture frames over the next few years which provoked my questions above.
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For Immediate Release
Contact: Jenny Barrett, Chelsey Tyson
Parks Associates
972-490-1113
Annual Shipments of Digital Photo Frames Will Exceed 12 Million in 2010
Digital Photo Frame Market Experiencing Well-deserved Rebound
Dallas, Texas, July 13, 2006 – The global market for digital photo frame products will exceed 12 million units by 2010, up from an estimated 700,000 units shipped in 2005, according to Digital Cameras and Imaging: Analysis and Forecasts, a recently published report from Parks Associates. A digital photo frame is an electronic device in a conventional photo-frame form factor, and it allows consumers to store and display digital pictures on an LCD screen.
“The digital photo frame market has finally emerged from the doldrums of 2001-2003, when low consumer interest and high hardware costs dampened demand,” said Harry Wang, research analyst at Parks Associates. “This reinvigorated market is ready for its second life.”
Digital Cameras and Imaging: Analysis and Forecasts attributes the renewed interest in digital photo frame products to consumers’ heightened familiarity with digital imaging applications, the growing number and increasing significance of digital pictures in households around the world, more affordable prices for hardware and flash memory, and better product design and features which create a more enjoyable user experience.
“This industry still has to clear a few bumps in the road ahead, and consumers are not likely to change their habits overnight,” Wang said. “But gradually, the digital photo frame will convince families of its many merits, including convenience, ease of use, and stunning visual effects.” Wang also believes expanded retail presence will further heighten consumers’ awareness and push the product category into the mainstream.
Digital Cameras and Imaging: Analysis and Forecasts offers a holistic picture of the entire digital imaging value chain, focusing on the hardware, software, and services that fulfill the imaging needs of consumers. It probes consumers’ usage patterns and purchasing behaviors, segments consumers based on their imaging needs, evaluates product and pricing strategies of current products and services, analyzes market drivers and barriers, profiles major players, and estimates the market potential for digital cameras, photo printing services, and the emerging digital photo frame products and services.
For additional information on Digital Cameras and Imaging: Analysis and Forecasts, visit http://www.parksassociates.com or contact 972-490-1113 or sales@parksassociates.com.
About Parks Associates: Parks Associates is a market research and consulting firm focused on all product and service segments that are “digital” or provide connectivity within the home. The company’s expertise includes home networks, digital entertainment, consumer electronics, broadband and Internet services, and home systems.
Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, multiclient studies, consumer research, workshops, and custom-tailored client solutions. Parks Associates also hosts multiple fall events and co-hosts CONNECTIONSTM (in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association) each year. http://www.parksassociates.com
This holiday season, eStarling finally shipped their long-awaited (and long anticipated) wireless photo frame. The next day, a few thousand techy, twenty-something sons went out and bought the eStarling for their low-tech mothers. On December 25th, a few thousand sixty-somethings opened up Christmas presents they weren’t expecting.
“A picture frame!”
“Not just any picture frame, Ma, it…”
Then a few thousand sons told a few thousand mothers that this was no ordinary frame- that it’d cycle through online albums and work with her new digital camera.
“So guests won’t think I’m still six years old when they see all the old photos lying around. It’ll keep you up to date!”
With excitement in the air and eggnog in their veins, mothers and sons went to the mantle to set up this wireless wonder. Four hours and a bottle of peppermint schnapps later, a few thousand mothers and a few thousand sons did something they never thought they’d ever do: they kicked a picture frame to try to make it work. Seven minutes later, eStarling tech support got a few thousand angry phone calls.
So eStarling didn’t do a perfect job this time around. It happens, and it’s a hassle for us early adopters. As it turns out – the little frame that caused so much fuss – looks fantastic after everything’s set up, I mean truly fantastic. Plus, a lot of the WiFi problems had to do with a faulty power cord that eStarling is replacing as quickly as any recall I’ve ever seen. And more than that, they really hit the nail on the head with its RSS support and connectivity options, WiFi connection problems notwithstanding. Throw on some sort of plastic bezel to cover the little “eStarling” logo (heck, you could use an actual frame), pick up a new power cord, use our online support guides to set it up with your router, get a Flickr account, and you’ve got quite the little gadget.
We’re so ready to make the jump to the next big thing that sometimes we miss the forest for the trees. I can’t even remember how many MP3 players I owned before I settled down with (you guessed it) an iPod. What I do remember is that most of them were terrible. Some of only held twelve songs (32mb), and it took a few hours getting those songs onto the player. But I was a glutton for the ooohs and ahhs- I loved the look on peoples’ faces when I told them music was coming out of that little black deck of cards. It took a while, but look where we are now. MP3 players are as ubiquitous as toaster-ovens, and they do more than just play music.
So here’s to the wifi frame of the future- the frame that rotates pictures of the kids while your wife’s in the office, and sports scores the second she leaves; to the frame that doubles as a calendar and reminds you that your dentist doesn’t take MasterCard. Don’t worry, It’ll happen. But until then, let’s say thank you to the walkmen, betamax players, tube TV’s, and eStarlings of the world. As long as they keep rolling out, things can only get better.
eStarling, you’re still in the game and by next Christmas it’ll be moms (we hope) setting up these frames on their own. Conclusion: still a great buy for any early adopters out there willing to go through some set-up pain. Available from ThinkGeek at $249
Buy the estarling digital frame at ThinkGeek now
