Digital Photo Frames Market Driven by Gift-Giving Status

According to the Market Alert over at In-Stat.com, digital photo frames will be purchased mainly as a gift for someone else.  Well, it IS almost time to think about the holidays!

The leading reason future digital photo frame purchasers will buy a frame is as a gift, according to new research from In-Stat http://www.in-stat.com.  Among consumers planning to purchase a digital photo frame in the next 12 months, 38% of respondents to In-Stat’s survey said they would buy the photo frame as a gift for someone else.  As a result, the coming holiday season will be crucial for competitors in the digital photo frame market such as HP, Kodak, Pandigital, Philips, Samsung and Sony.

Overall, global shipments of wireless and wired digital photo frames are on the rise, as prices decline to affordable levels.  In-Stat expects worldwide unit shipments of digital photo frames to reach 50 million by 2013.

The weak economy is certainly slowing growth in this market, as consumers cut back their discretionary spending. However, pricing continues to fall and awareness is growing.  In addition, competitors are introducing next generation digital photo frames that support advanced functions, such as multimedia playback of movie clips and audio files, and include support for Wi-Fi or bluetooth connectivity.

The full article may be found on the In-Stat website.  For more information, In-Stat recommends that you read their full article about Wi-Fi as a global opportunity in the connected photo frame market.

Intel Demo to be Streamed and Shared Via Wireless Digital Picture Frame

From Reuters comes a preview of what Intel will be doing at the upcoming Intel Developers Forum, September 22-24, 2009:

SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(Business Wire)–
PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLXT), a leading global supplier of silicon and software solutions for enterprise and consumer markets, today announced a combined demonstration plan of its market-leading products at the upcoming Intel
Developers Forum (IDF), September 22-24, 2009. PLX will demo an emerging enterprise usage model of its latest PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 switches and merge it with several new consumer applications by using its network attached storage (NAS) devices, thus showcasing the convergence of the connected world.

The PCIe element of the demonstration will highlight a PLX PEX 8696 PCIe Gen 2
switch supporting multi-host/multi-root connectivity by having two computers
communicate simultaneously through a single switch posing as two different
systems. At the same time, a separate PLX PEX 8609 switch will demonstrate
non-transparency (NT) capability, a PLX-exclusive feature, by having the two PCs
be able to send messages through the NT port of the unique switch.

NAS is the future of consumer content-sharing and storage and PLX will highlight
some modern usage models. The PLX OXE810 system-on-a-chip (SoC) will showcase
the high-performance management of multiple high-definition (HD) quality videos,
audio, and pictures via wired and wireless networks. Dual HD monitors along with
a netbook and a smart cell phone will represent the sharing. Audio transfer via
the OXE810 NAS device will be demonstrated by streaming an Internet radio player
while, simultaneously, photographic images will be streamed and shared in a
digital photo frame.

IDF 2009 will be held in San Francisco, Calif., on September 22-24 at the
Moscone Center West. Attendees can register on the Intel Website for full access
to the event, while budget-restricted patrons can register for free (Thursday
showcase only) by visiting https://secure.jackmorton.com/idf09/ and using the
promo code DCPECD1.

PLX Technology today offers more than 20 ExpressLane PCIe Gen 2 switch devices,
with more in development, all of which are listed on the PCI-SIG Integrators
List. The company is now investing in the development of products compliant with
the Gen 3 specification and is working closely with key designers and
manufacturers to meet their PCIe needs.

PLX is also a market leader in external consumer storage NAS and DAS solutions,
which are backed up by sophisticated firmware and technical support for rapid
designer customization. PLX enables OEMs to deliver world-class solutions to
consumers by supplying ready-to-go application firmware that has been
extensively stress-tested by PLX and enables custom applications that meet
manufacturers` precise specifications.

About PLX

PLX Technology, Inc. (www.plxtech.com), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., USA, is a
leading global supplier of high-performance, feature-rich, system-interconnect
semiconductors, SoCs and software solutions for the communications, storage,
server, compute, embedded-control, and consumer markets. The company provides a
competitive advantage through an integrated combination of experience,
innovative silicon, powerful design tools, and synergetic global partnerships.
These unmatched PLX solutions are based on established technologies including
PCI Express, USB, SATA, Ethernet, and FireWire that enable our customers to
develop equipment with industry-leading performance, scalability, security, and
reliability, and bring their designs to market faster.

ExpressLane, PLX Technology and the PLX Technology logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of PLX Technology, Inc.All other product names that appear
in this material are for identification purposes only and are acknowledged to be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.Other names
and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

CommonGround Communications (for PLX)
Jerry Steach, 415-222-9996
jsteach@plxtech.com

Global demand for digital photo frames still growing, says AUO vice president

Susie Pan, Taipei, and Yvonne Yu, DIGITIMES had this to say about the immediate future of digital picture frame sales:

Although the outlook for digital photo frames has been conservative in 2009, global demand is steadily growing by an estimated annual rate of 20-30%, according to Chun-ting Liu, senior vice president of AU Optronics (AUO).

Due to the global economic downturn, small- to medium-size panel makers trimmed digital photo frame panel shipments for 2008 and turned conservative for 2009, market sources noted, while adding that panel makers were really optimistic about the digital photo frame panel market in 2008 and expected the market to reach 20-25 million units as digital photo frame shipments in 2007 increased to over 10 million units from 2-3 million units in 2006.

With digital photo frame being a popular choice for gift, small- to medium-size panel makers believe that demand for digital photo frames will remain stable during the year-end holidays despite the uncertainty of the market in 2009, the sources said.

Digital photo frame panel shipments are estimated to reach 17.41 million units in 2009, according to Digitimes Research.

Hands On with HP’s DreamScreen

Tom Spring, at PCWorld.com, has posted an article about HP’s new limited-wireless DreamScreen digital picture frames; he’s not entirely convinced, but we’ll let YOU be your own judge of it:

HP is taking the digital photo frame to new heights with its HP DreamScreen line of smart displays that do way more than just let you browse pretty pictures. The DreamScreen, announced Wednesday, is a beautiful smart display that comes in two sizes (10- and 13-inches diagonally). They link wirelessly to the Internet and can display pictures, five-day weather forecasts, Facebook friend updates, and the Pandora music service. The displays also can be linked to your desktop so you can easily put multimedia content directly on them.

Available today online, the HP DreamScreen will run you $250 for the 100 model and $300 for the 130 model. HP says DreamScreens will be in brick-and-mortar retail stores on October 11.

I checked out the HP DreamScreens last night at an industry event in New York and wouldn’t exactly call them a “dream.” The DreamScreen may look like slick tablet computers that people have been salivating for, but these are just very expensive and very smart displays that lack the key features — such as a touch screen interface and true portability — that could make them breakthrough products.

I’ll get into my beefs with DreamScreen after I break down the specs.

A Digital Photo Frame to Die For

The 130 DreamScreen model has a 13.3-inch display that offers a 16:9 ratio and a resolution of 800 by 480. The 100 unit has a 10.2-inch diagonal display. Both units sport 2GB (1.5GB usable space) of memory, have two USB ports, headphone output for external speakers, built-in stereo speakers, ethernet jack, and a 802.11 b/g wireless antenna. Both units have built-in 6-in-2 card readers that can accept CF and SD cards.

The USB port allows you to connect a thumb drive or external hard drive. The DreamScreen can also play videos (MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264) and music (MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV). Software for a PC allows you to add content to the frame.

You navigate the device using a tiny remote control or via controls built into the hardware. Applications include access to HP’s SnapFish online photo service; a custom version of Facebook for viewing friends, status updates, and photos; access to Pandora music streaming service; HP’s own HP SmartRadio service; and a clock.

The DreamScreen some with wall mounts on the back or can be set on a table. It lacks a battery, so it must stay plugged in at all times.

What’s Not to Like?

My biggest beef with the DreamScreen is that you want it to be a touchscreen device — and it’s not. Last night, nearly everyone who looked at the DreamScreen tried to touch the screen to navigate it. The DreamScreens run an embedded version of Linux that lacks the ability to do much more than run pre-canned HP applications specially designed for the devices. Right now, there are only eight applications, though HP representatives say that number could be expanded soon.

I like the idea of having a limited functioning device, but some basic functions are missing. You can’t check e-mail or browse news headlines, for example. I get that HP is not just creating a touchscreen computer with this device; if I wanted one of those, I could plop down $1400 for HP’s TouchSmart IQ800t. However, I still craved an RSS display and simple messaging notification (be it e-mail, SMS text, or IM). Okay, so responding to messages would be an issue on the DreamScreen, but at least you’d know new messages were there.

Also lacking from the DreamScreen is the capability to view Web-based video content from services such as YouTube and Hulu. E-mail, video, and RSS feeds would all be possible without having to embed a full-fledge OS into the device if HP decided to give the DreamScreen a simple browser. It didn’t.

Another missing feature is the capability to stream video and auido files from your PC, which would eliminate the need to run them locally on the DreamScreen. Ideally you’d be able to navigate libraries of content on your desktop PC or NAS device and playback through the DreamScreen. Right now you can’t.

Another temptation with this device is to pick it up as if it were a sleek portable tablet. Want to take that video you’re watching into the kitchen? You can’t do it without unplugging the device. Even if you don’t mind plugging it in everywhere you go, the DreamScreen sports some bulky hardware on its backside, making it less than ideal for porting from room to room. Once you find a home for this unit, it will most likely stay there.

Now, I’m not going to be popular with HP’s Ameer Karim, director of product marketing. On Wednesday night he told me people just don’t want this type of functionality I want from the DreamScreen.

I readily admit I may be suffering from Apple tablet envy, where I think that everything that kind of looks like a tablet should be a table. But the DreamScreen, for me, is stuck in tablet purgatory. It’s not quite the tablet I want it to be and too expensive to justify as a replacement for the digital picture frame I never use.