Sam Costello, Editor-in-Chief of WirelessPictureFrame has interviewed the movers and shakers of the digital frame market over the last year. All speak of the growing market and emergence of the (wireless) digital frame as an information appliance.
Great reading for those following the industry! Watch for more from Sam over the coming months.
Steve Woo, Vice President of Sales, Viewsonic
Eric Kanagy, CEO of RedPost
Alan Phillips, Co-Founder of FrameMedia
Andrew Caffey, Executive Vice President, PF Digital
JT VonLunen, President of AllDigitalFrames.com
Joe DiMare, CEO of Bigeframe
Dean Finnegan, Pandigital
Bryan Zmijewski, Lucky Oliver
Tom Berarducci, Consumer Imaging Systems Group at Kodak
Harry Wang, Parks Associates
FrameChannel uses the open RSS standard that millions of devices can interact with. FrameMedia uses RSS in order to make using FrameChannel as easy as possible for both users and frame manufacturers.
But PF Digital, the company that makes the eStarling, doesn’t allow its users to add whatever RSS feed they’d like to their eStarling frames. We think they ought to.
The eStarling frame currently supports a handful of external RSS feeds: Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, and a few others. The company’s position on adding new RSS feeds is:
More RSS support will come. Please send email to suggestions@estarling.com to
include a new RSS.
We’re asking WirelessPictureFrame.com readers and FrameChannel users to email PF Digital/eStarling and ask them to add FrameChannel to their list of supported RSS feeds.
PF Digital needs to open the eStarling to other RSS feeds — including, but not limited to, FrameChannel — for a number of reasons.
Not allowing users to add whatever RSS feed they want is similar to Microsoft creating a version of Internet Explorer that can only visit certain websites. No one would stand for that — or probably use that browser for too long. PF Digital isn’t Microsoft’s size, of course, so they may need to move more deliberately. This would be a good next step.
PF Digital should also open up their RSS feeds because open standards and systems are better for users. When companies leverage open systems, interoperability increases, in turn increasing the value of products to customers. After all, the open Internet has proved to be more appealing than cloistered systems like AOL.
PF Digital isn’t the only frame company that isn’t open enough when it comes to RSS. Kodak needs to open up, too, and we’ll revisit that issue in the future.
The companies that have opened up already, like BigEFrame, should be applauded for their forward-looking stance. More frame makers are certain to be joining that list soon.
We hope that the eStarling will join those ranks, too, and if you’d like to see them do so, please email suggestions@estarling.com and ask them to add FrameChannel to their list of supported RSS feeds.
The high resolution WiFi wireless photo frame is the most powerful digital picture frame currently availabale anywhere. It now uses Windows Vista as the operating system.
Customers can choose between a 19 or 20-inch viewable screen, and enough internal storage for over 100,000 pictures. It can handle pictures, movies, and Mp3’s with ease. It’s made for the wall, but would also look great sitting on any big desk or table.
Bigeframe Plus has the capability to wirelessly connect to your media. All your pictures and home movie files stored on your home or business network can be played with ease. It can also be updated and controlled from any PC connected to the internet. You could be across town, or across the country, and update and change your digital picture frame via the internet.
In addition to showing all your pictures and video, the BigeFrame Plus also has an online news ticker with the ability to receive news, sports, and weather from all over the world. You can even use the frame as an electronic sign and show important messages to your audience or customers.
Frames can be set to auto-start slideshows when the power is turned on. BigeFrame packages will play PowerPoint and Flash media files as well. If you don’t have a wireless network, they accept an ethernet cable or you can run them stand alone.
This is a big one, folks, and probably most people wouldn’t need something this powerful. But for businesses, professional photographers, schools, colleges, or someone with a large-than-usual picture collection, this large wireless digital picture frame is FANTASTIC.
If you’re looking for a really big digital picture frame, wireless or otherwise, Bigeframe is one of the only players. The smallest frame the company offers is 15 inches, with the biggest running 20 inches. Bigeframe also offers 19- and 20-inch wireless digital frames.
Bigaframe is a small company based in Tennessee, making its name through word of mouth and Internet sales.
Joe DiMare, CEO of Bigeframe, was nice enough to take some time to speak with us about Bigeframe’s history, its challenges, and its future.
When was Bigeframe founded?
We started Bigeframe about three years ago. I bought a little frame for my wife, a little one like a 7-inch digital frame, for Valentine’s Day. I was like, you know what? This is small. I need a big one. There was no one selling a big one for under $2,000 at the time, so we had to start trying to build these things.
Your website emphasizes the size of your frames. Why is that so important?
Size is always important. You don’t always want to have to be right next to your frame. I always figured that other people want to see it, too, so if it’s bigger everybody else can get a better look at it.
(The size helps it) play into a lot of other things, too, because we sell a lot to businesses and conventions. They use them as displays in their booths. They definitely don’t want a small one.
What percentage of your sales is to businesses? What percentage to consumers?
It seems to be, because of our design, about 80% business, 20% families.
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