Parrot Specchio Wireless Digital Picture Frame: Where Art and Technology Meet

This coming November 2009, be ready to welcome the Parrot Specchio, a new wireless digital picture frame that is not only technologically great but also aesthetically pleasing!

Noted contemporary artist Martin Szekely, “master of minimalism,” together with Parrot Electronics, has designed a wireless digital picture frame that is absolutely beautiful.

Bluetooth fans, rejoice, for the Parrot Specchio is compatible with all things Bluetooth, as well as your home or business WiFi connections and Near Field Communication.

You can also, of course, use any SD memory card or a direct miniUSB port connection to see pictures on your Parrot Specchio.

Part of the beauty of the wireless Parrot Specchio is that when you turn it off, it becomes a mirror.

Seriously, this wireless digital picture frame has more ways to display pictures than most other wireless frames.  With the Near Field Communication, you can hold your NFC mobile phone against the back of the frame and any pictures on it will be immediately displayed on the picture frame!  Not many consumer electronics are using NFC yet, beyond beta, so Parrot is very innovative in putting this feature on the new wireless digital picture frame.

You can even check your email on your wireless Parrot Specchia picture frame!  The frame has enough internal memory to store approximately 1500 pictures, and the wireless limits are, well, limitless!

More technical specs will be available in a few weeks.  Keep checking right here on this blog!

The wireless Parrot Specchio digital picture frame will be available in November 2008 for approximately $500.00.

Embedded Wi-Fi Chips Approaching a Billion Electronics Devices

Market researcher In-Stat tells us that “Because of its large installed base in mobile PC’s and home networks, flexibility, and mature ecosystem, Wi-Fi is a valued. . . technology for the consumer electronic (CE) market.”  In-Stat analyst Victoria Fodale says that “The sheer volume of digital TV shipments will make it a strong market. . . . “  In-Stat predicts that the compound annual growth rate for CE Wi-Fi devices through 2012 will be 26%.

That means that embedded Wi-Fi chips could end up in almost a billion consumer electronics devices by 2012, according to a recent Cnet news article.   In-Stat states that “. . . more than 294 million consumer electronics devices with Wi-Fi shipped in 2007.  But that number is quickly growing and will likely reach 1 billion by 2012.”

In-Stat also reports that because mobile handsets are the fastest-growing embedded Wi-Fi device right now, dual-mode cell phones will become the largest category of Wi-Fi devices by 2011, surpassing PC’s.  There are several reasons so many electronic devices are opting for Wi-Fi connections; for one, prices are coming down, WAY down.  Another factor is increased battery life.  Apple’s iPhone, among others, comes with Wi-Fi.

Right now, most televisions use ethernet for their internet connections, but in the future, digital TV’s “. . . are expected to use Wi-Fi. . . wireless technology could be used to connect TV’s to various devices like set-top boxes and DVD players in an effort to eliminate cords.  The only cord needed would be the power cord.”

David Katzmaier reviews TV’s for CNET, and he can “. . . see (Bluetooth) being used for things like wireless surround speakers and remote controls . . . even to integrate cell phones into the TV experience. . . .”

I am wondering, personally, if wireless technology can make it easy for people like me, with a wireless digital picture frame, to access internet content such as Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube, to name just a few.  We’re already watching videos on our wireless frames; if these bigger sites featured RSS, FrameChannel could pick them up and wireless picture frame owners could watch their favorite videos and movies on our wireless frames, bypassing the television set altogether.

The Optex 15″ Digital Frame Has Bluetooth!

Australia has wireless digital picture frames, too!

From Tasco Sales comes the new Optex digital picture frame, with Bluetooth!  The 15-inch LCD display gives you 1028 x 765 resolution and twin-light technology, which means your digital pictures will be twice as bright!

You and your friends will be able to send pictures wirelessly from your Bluetooth phones right to this picture frame, and the pictures will appear as if by magic.

The Optex digital frame will display your pictures, videos, and will also play your Mp3’s.  With a full gig of internal memory, you’ll be able to store over 800 digital pictures in the frame, as well as usuing almost any memory card or flash drive.  And, with the wireless remote, you’ll be able to control the digital frame from your easy chair.

This new Optex Bluetooth Digital Photo Frame has a MSP of $429.00.

Sony Ericsson IDP-100 7-inch Digital Picture Frame, with Bluetooth!

The new Sony Ericsson 7-inch IDP-100 is the perfect way to display all of your digital pictures - the ones on your cell phone as well as the ones stashed away in files on your computer’s hard drive.

“Now it’s time to unleash these photos and display them with pride and with the help of the superb Sony Ericsson IDP-100 Digital Photo Frame, the ideal accessory to your Sony Ericsson Cyber-Shot phone, ” a press release said earlier.

You can transfer your digital pictures in several ways, including Bluetooth, USB flash drive, M2 card, microSD, SD, or MS Duo.  How cool will it be to just push a button on your Sony Ericsson cell phone and know that your picture is instantly appearing on your digital picture frame?

Jacob Sten, head of the accessories division at Sony Ericsson, says that “We are proud that the frame receives, stores, and displays up to 500 still images through a variety of options.  Once uploaded they are automatically rotated, enhanced and re-sized to fit the frame - so that you can enjoy your memories instantly.”

With a resolution of 800 x 480, your pictures will be clear, bright, and beautiful.

The new Sony Ericsson IDP-100 has 128 MB of internal memory, too.  The touchscreen interface makes it even easier to program and use your new digital frame.

You can enhance your pictures right in the frame, too, with the included Digital Image Correction (DIC) program.

No information about prices yet, but the Sony Ericsson IDP-100 should be in the stores by the fourth quarter of 2008, and that’s pretty soon.