Sony Unveils Digital Frame/Printer Combo

Greg Tarr of TWICE has the scoop on the new Sony digital picture frame/printer combo:

Sony Electronics is launching Thursday a multitasking digital photo frame and printer combination.

The S-Frame DPP-F700 is an all-in-one device that allows photo lovers to display their favorite photos and make an instant print copy for interested friends and family.

The DPP-F700, which will ship in January at a $200 estimated selling price, has a 7-inch 16:10 LCD display with WVGA (800-by-480) resolution.

The device prints 4-by-6 inch professional quality 300-by-300 dpi photos instantly in just 45 seconds.

The frame will also enable users to edit images before making prints. Editing options include enlarging, reducing, cropping, date stamping, adding borders or omitting, and adjusting brightness, contrast, hue, and sharpness.

A Creative Print mode will enable making photo calendar using more than 30 templates, print an ID photo, and create a “layout print” with multiple images on one sheet.

The S-frame includes 1GB of internal storage capacity with an auto-resizing adjustment that downsizes photos to let you store up to 2,000 photos.

The new S-Frame model supports JPEG, TIFF and BMP image file formats.

Images can be transferred to the frame via a USB connection or via most Flash memory cards, including Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Secure Digital (SD), SDHC, Multi-Media Card (MMC), CompactFlash and xD-Picture Card media.

An Auto Orientation sensor automatically rotates photos to adjust for horizontal of vertical frame placement.

Supplied accessories include a paper tray, AC adaptor, CD-ROM (print driver, PMB), operation manual, cleaning kit and stand.

Optional print packs include compatible SVM-F series: SVM-F40P (40 sheets of photo paper and cartridge), and SVM-F120P (120 sheets of photo paper and cartridges).

Sony announces limited edition digital photo frame embedded with Swarovski Crystals

This strikingly beautiful digital picture frame would be the PERFECT wedding gift!  Just look at the lovely Swarovski crystals!

The 7-inch Sony DPF-D72N/BQ holiday limited edition digital picture frame has a full gig of internal memory – that means over 2,000 pictures!

You can upload your digital pictures to the Sony digital frame with direct USB input from your computer, but the frame is compatible with most memory cards as well.  With a resolution of 800 x 480, your digital pictures will be bright, clear, and colorful.

There are many playback opotions, too: you can view your pictures as single images, as easily searchable thumbnails, or as a slideshow with ten different transitions from which to choose.

The Sony DPF-D72N/BQ digital picture frame will be in stores in October, with a suggested price of about $150.00.

Thanks to NewsLaunches.com for the information.

Wireless/Digital Picture Frames Now Considered Mainstream Consumer Product!

Good sales are predicted for wireless/digital photo frames, according to Lifestyles PR Blog:

Consumers in the UK are buying digital photo frames faster than ever before, according to Futuresource Consulting. In excess of 1.8 million digital frames were sold across the UK during 2008 and it’s estimated that ten percent of UK homes now own at least one digital picture frame.

A high number of low cost 7-inch wide screen frames contributed to an increase in sales volume of 60 percent in comparison with 2007. Sales are heavily driven by gifting and first time impulse buyers attracted by increasingly low prices. Between December 2007 and December 2008 prices fell by about 20 percent for the highly popular 7-inch wide screen model of frame.

The gifting market is very strong and there are strong sales peaks in advance of major holidays. Consumers love the ability to customize the frames by loading them with photographs prior to handing over their gift and many are now becoming aware of the possibility of providing “updates”, either by passing over a new memory card with new photos on it or even by wirelessly downloading a batch of photos from the web.

Well known brand names such as Kodak, Philips, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony grew their market share (to 54 percent) in 2008, but unbranded frames and lesser known models continued to sell well also.

Even allowing for the current economic climate, sales are expected to grow by between 10 and 20 percent in 2009. Market analysts are forecasting that we will see increasing numbers of “convergence products” – items such as iPods, TVs, notebooks etc. which include picture frame functionality – and that these may gradually erode the sales of dedicated digital frames.

That would certainly seem quite reasonable considering the large number of products which are now incorporating digital frames. Small 1.5 inch key ring type frames are perhaps a predictable development – but thermal travel mugs, desk tidies and even sunglasses with digital frames are also currently available in the marketplace.

In fact, as digital frames are developed with ever increasing functionality it may become difficult to tell whether a device is a frame which can also browse the net or another type of device which can also display photographs. Frames already exist which can read news feeds from the internet and receive wireless transmission of photographs from internet photo sharing sites. Similarly, large screen TVs which can be used to display family photos rather than a blank screen when they are in standby mode, are now available.

In summary, digital photo frames must now be regarded as a mainstream consumer product rather than a high technology gadget. Their mass appeal in the gifting market will guarantee ongoing sales growth in 2009, in spite of the economic climate, and future technology fusion will drive further sales growth in the medium to long term.

Sony Bravia KDL40EX1

Cnet has this to say about the new Sony Bravia KDL40EX1, Sony’s wireless picture frame TV:

Upside
Considering that this isn’t an LED-backlit model like Sony’s ZX1, we were quite surprised at the unit’s thinness — only 4.9cm for the 40- and 46-inch versions. It’s no wonder then that Sony calls this its “wireless picture frame”, and we have no doubt its white and silver looks would be quite attractive mounted on a lounge-room wall.

Like the ZX1, the EX1 uses “Bravia 1080 Wireless” technology to transmit content from the media box to your TV. The technology is based on the WirelessHD specification and uses a high frequency 60GHz signal to shoot your content from the media box to the TV. However, the TV isn’t completely wireless as it still needs a power socket to plug into.

Features include a full 1920×1080-pixel resolution, the 100Hz version of Motionflow, 24p support, Picture Frame mode (natch), and four HDMI ports including one on the television itself. Though it lacks the Ethernet port of some rivals, there is a USB port for viewing photos.

We saw one on display recently, and were impressed by the blacks the WCG-CCFL backlight could achieve — especially in comparison to the ZX1 by its side. We were surprised by this, as LED-backlighting — as on the ZX1 — is supposed to provide better blacks. Of course, the ZX1 uses edge lighting to achieve maximum thinness, and this appears to be to the detriment of the contrast levels it achieves.

Downside
The “Bravia 1080 Wireless” is only 1080i and not 1080p, and this may worry people who want the highest possible video quality. Though, on a screen of this size it’s difficult to tell the difference between upscaled 1080i and native 1080p, but it also depends on how good the Sony’s scaler is. Nevertheless, if you plug a device directly into the TV you’ll get 1080p.

Outlook
The EX1 series is an attractive-looking television set perfectly suited to mounting on the wall. While you could buy it for using it in the normal fashion, we really don’t see any point. It’s good to see a TV that thinks a bit differently and can attempt to capture the very popular digital photo frame market as well.

Home Entertainment News has a rather different opinion:

The Sony KDL-40EX1 is being projected as the flagship Sony model and the company’s fist ever wireless picture frame. The thinness of the Sony KDL-40EX1 is a paltry 4.9cm where as the size of the screen is a mammoth 40 inches. The looks are fantastic as the tinges of white and silver take the screen to a different level altogether. The attraction quotient will increase manifold when you mount the screen on the wall of your home. The wireless high definition feature is the hallmark of this Sony LCD TV and the frequency produced is somewhere around 60Hz. The resolution produced by the screen is 1920 x 1080 pixels and is enough to bright up a room with visuals. Sony’s MotionFlow technology is around 100Hz and the picture frame mode lets the viewer dig deep into the visual brilliance.

There are some ports that have been kept in the Sony KDL-40EX1 for enhancing connectivity like the four HDMI ports and the Ethernet port and of course the most important, the USB port. One look at the Sony KDL-40EX1 would assure you that this is the screen that you would prefer to see up there on the wall of your room. The sound quality is unusual for a thin screen like this one and the contrast ratio is also commendable. Buy the Sony KDL-40EX1 at a very affordable price for your house and watch television together with family. The experience will be highly rejuvenating every time and the moments you share with your loved ones in front of the Sony KDL-40EX1 will be always etched in your memory.

The Sony Bravia KDL40EX1 is just under $6,000.