Digital photo frames to get connected

John Walko at Video Imaging Design Line gives us some very interesting statistics about silicon providers for digital picture frames:

Courtesy of EE Times Europe

LONDON — The total silicon opportunity for digital photo frame suppliers will exceed $550 million by 2013, according to market research group InStat.

Microcontrollers are said to represent the largest opportunity in non-wireless enabled devices.

In a major study of the sector, InStat also found that the bill of materials for a wireless 8-inch digital photo frame will fall below $36 by 2013, with the LCD, the wireless module and the enclosure being the dominant cost items.

The researchers predict worldwide unit shipments for all types of digital photo frames will reach 50 million by 2013.

However because of the trend to purchase digital photo frames as gifts pre-loaded with pictures, most units shipped still lack advanced features such as wireless connectivity to the Internet. Nevertheless, wireless-enabled photo frames are a key growth driver as they will grow at twice the rate of overall digital photo frames in 2010.

“Prices for connected frames will continue to decline, and as manufacturers educate consumers about these devices; the mass market will become more comfortable using the Internet services connected frames support,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst.

Ethier adds applications such as sharing and downloading pictures over the Internet, as well as streaming Internet radio and video from online sites like YouTube, will be the main drivers in the sector.

Some of the major digital photo frame vendors and their silicon providers are said to include HP, Kodak, Pandigital, Philips, Samsung, Sony, RMI Corporation, Marvell Technology Group, and Samsung Electronics.

** Separately, Conexant said Tuesday (June 30) it has started sampling a range of SoCs targeting the connected photo frame and interactive display appliances market.

The parts integrate integrate Internet connectivity and touch-screen technology. The CX92735 supports streaming media content, MP3 audio playback with slideshow functionality, and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet connectivity.

The device integrates an ARM9 processor with a vector floating point unit and a dedicated image processor, which simultaneously processes streamed content.

Philips 10FF3CDW 10.2″ Digital Photo Frame

The Philips 10FF3CDW LCD digital picture frame is large, beautiful, and showcases your digital photographs beautifully.

First of all, the Philips digital frame is most attractive and will look good in any decor. That’s not the most important thing, of course, but it is the first thing people notice.

Much more important is the fact that your digital pictures look GREAT on the Philips frame! Its resolution of 800 x 480 and aspect ratio of 16:9 mean that bright, clear, colorful pictures slideshow across the frame, filling your room – and your lives – with memories.

The Philips 10FF3CDW digital picture frame is also an energy saver; its unique Smart Power Pro feature automatically turns the frame on or off, based on the lighting in the room. “Green” is good, and this Philips frame is definitely green.

You can create all kinds of albums and slideshows with this digital frame, too.

The Philips 10FF3CDW digital frame has an additional function called “Collage Pro.” This lets you edit and create random collage slideshows with your digital photographs.

The built-in card reader accepts almost any memory card or stick, which means that the number of pictures on your frame is limited only by the size of the card or stick.

The Philips 10FF3CDW 10.2-inch LCD digital picture frame is being sold for only $129.95 on Amazon.

Customers Prefer WIRELESS Digital Picture Frames!

Cellular-News.com posted an article yesterday about consumer preferences in the area of digital picture frames.  It came as no surprise to me at all that savvy consumers rate video capability and wireless connection HIGH on their list of desirable digital photo frame qualities.    There will always be a market for digital photo frames, of course, as there will always be people who are not exactly “techies” or who have no computer at all, who still want a means of viewing their hundreds or thousands of digital photographs.  It’s very easy to just pop in a memory card or flash drive.  A wireless capability, however, remains #1 for me.  In my home, I have three digital picture frames, but the WIRELESS Digital Spectrum MF8104 is the one I love best – so easy to use, so many options, so big an RSS feed world. . . .

Here is the Cellular-News.com article:

Half of potential photo frame buyers want photo frames that are video capable, according to a recent study by high-tech market research firm, In-Stat. As this market migrates towards next generation devices, In-Stat’s survey also revealed that consumers want Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity.

Digital photo frames that are used primarily to showcase digital photos in slideshow mode reflect a growing consumer electronics opportunity. Sophisticated digital photo frames support a number of advanced functions, including Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth capability, MPEG video files, audio files, and the ability to print pictures directly from the frame to a photo printing device.

“Next-generation features will play prominently in future digital photo frame purchases,” says Stephanie Ethier, In-Stat analyst. “Competitors must carefully balance price and feature sets.”

The research by In-Stat also found the following:

* From the survey of 1,547 respondents from In-Stat’s Technology Adoption Panel (TAP), a dynamic, online panel of technology users and decision makers, Kodak is the brand owned by the highest percentage of digital photo frame respondents. Other popular brands included Pandigital and Philips.

* Although not high in current owners, HP and Sony have strong interest among those looking to buy digital photo frames within the next 12 months.

* Among users interested in purchasing a future digital photo frame, the most desired feature on digital photo frame is Movie clip playback, followed by the ability to transfer pictures from Internet photo sharing sites, like Snapfish and Flickr.

One in Ten Homes Has A Digital Picture Frame Now

Tech writer Mark Harris, on TechRadar.com, has an interesting article about how one in ten homes now has a digital picture frame in it!

Brits are snapping up digital photo frames faster than ever, according to high tech analysts Futuresource Consulting.

More than 1.8 million units were sold in the UK during 2008, at an average retail price of around £90, and frames are now present in an estimated ten per cent of UK homes.

“Fuelled by a glut of low-cost 7-inch widescreen offerings from a number of brands and retailers sales grew 60 per cent in 2008 from 2007,” says Simon Bryant, Principal Consultant, Futuresource Consulting.

“The market continues to be heavily reliant on gifting and first-time impulse buyers who are lured by broad distribution and very low prices. Between Christmas 2007 and 2008, like-for-like prices fell roughly 20 per cent for the most popular 7-inch widescreen frames.”

While top tier brands like Sony, Samsung, Kodak, Philips, and Toshiba increased their combined share of sales between 2007 and 2008 (from 42 to 54 per cent), no-name and own-brand frames continue to sell well.

Futuresource expects convergence products that incorporate photo frame functionality, such as connected TVs, netbooks and the iPod Touch, to gradually erode sales of dedicated frame. (Item:  I do not agree!  These things have different purposes!)

Bryant say, “Even by the end of this year – when we’re going to see the market grow to around 2m to 2.2m units – we’ll see crossover products that will beg the question ‘is it a photo frame or an alarm clock radio, a personal multimedia player or a portable TV?’”

Kodak has just licensed its OLED technology to LG for use in photo frames, and Wi-Fi, video-capable and even internet radio streaming frames expected to take market share throughout 2009.