Wi-Fi Enabled Televisions Among Highest Growth of New Product Introduction

SOAWorld Magazine has posted a fascinating article about the “1H09 Wi-Fi Products Tracker Database” directory:

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “1H09 Wi-Fi Products Tracker Database” directory to their offering.

The Wi-Fi Products Tracker Database provides summary data of branded WLAN end-products by product name, vendor, 802.11 technology, category, and subcategory in pivot-tables for quick analysis of trends. Detailed data is provided for in-depth analysis of product releases from 2007 to 1H09

Wi-Fi Connectivity Becoming Pervasive on Devices. Over 1000 New Wi-Fi Products Are Launched in 2008

Wi-Fi enabled products continue to proliferate across nearly all categories, including computing, networking, consumer electronics and mobile devices. Over 1,000 new products were launched with Wi-Fi in 2008; 2009 promises to surpass that mark, reports this latest report.

Among the key growth areas is stationary consumer electronics (CE) devices with Wi-Fi. Stationary CE devices include products that require access to a power source, such as televisions and digital photo frames. In 2008, manufacturers introduced nearly 100 new Wi-Fi enabled stationary CE products, up from 22 in 2007. Introductions are increasing in 2009, with over 55 in the first half of 2009.

Digital photo frames and digital audio players with Wi-Fi were among the key device types to see a surge in product introductions in 2008 compared to 2007. In 2009, Wi-Fi enabled digital televisions are among the highest growth of new product introductions for stationary CE devices. Philips consumer electronics was among the most aggressive competitors, pushing an array of new Wi-Fi-equipped digital audio players and digital TVs. In the digital photo frame category, adoption of Wi-Fi in 2008 new product introductions was broad-based across 17 different competitors

Recent research found the following:

Hewlett Packard had the most Wi-Fi enabled new product introductions of any manufacturer in 2008, and nearly tripled their new product introductions in 2008 compared to 2007.
Cisco leads the market in first half of 2009 with 802.11n-enabled product introductions overall. Samsung electronics leads market in 802.11n consumer electronics.
802.11 b/g solutions are still the dominant Wi-Fi technology in new product introductions in 2008. However, 802.11 Draft n 2.0 solutions are gaining rapidly, and are expected to become the most popular Wi-Fi technology across most product categories by the end of 2009.
Philips, looking to grab a market leadership position in Internet-enabled television sets, released more Wi-Fi enabled television sets than the rest of the market combined.

Recent research, 1H09 Wi-Fi Products Database is part of the new “Wi-Fi Product Database”. The database provides detailed tracking of the progression of Wi-Fi adoption in computing, consumer electronics, mobile phones and other electronic devices that are announced.

The database includes a detailed log of branded WLAN end-products by product name, vendor, 802.11 technology, product category, and subcategory. The data is provided in formatted pivot-tables for analysis of technology and product trends, as well as competitors.

Frame Media Reinvents Itself as Thinking Screen, Goes After Larger “Connected Screen” Market

Xconomy.com’s Wade Roush has posted a wonderful article about FrameMedia’s new name and additional new goals!  As Thinking Screen Media, the former FrameMedia is still the leader in content delivery to connected screens worldwide.

Wireless digital photo frames, considered one of the hot new categories in consumer electronics back in 2006 and 2007, haven’t taken off as quickly as expected. People love digital frames, but they’ve tended to buy them as gifts pre-loaded with photos they uploaded to the Web, meaning many frames still don’t come with their own connection to the Internet. That’s a problem for Wellesley, MA-based Frame Media, whose whole business, when I last profiled the startup in 2007, revolved around providing fresh digital content for the frames, such as news and sports headlines, weather, and photos shared by friends.

But while Wi-Fi-equipped frames are still playing catchup, another channel for the company’s programming is emerging: so-called “connected screens,” meaning a whole variety of Internet-ready displays that are turning up in homes and offices. As a result, Frame Media is rechristening itself Thinking Screen Media, and going after what CEO Alan Phillips calls “a whole category [of displays] defined primarily by the fact that, unlike PCs, they are limited in their ability to easily search and configure content.” That includes not just digital frames but high-definition TVs, cable set-top boxes, game consoles, Internet radios, and even printers.

Through its FrameChannel platform, Thinking Screen works with publishers such as Time magazine, the New York Times, People magazine, and Weatherbug to offer more than 1,000 channels of content customized for such screens. (Users choose and configure the information feeds at Thinking Screen’s website.) The company is also partnering with virtually every consumer-electronics company on the block—names like Kodak, Motorola, Nintendo, Philips, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba—to make it easy

“Most of the connected screens haven’t hit the market yet, but they will over the next six months,” says Phillips. In particular, Phillips says, “We’ll see an aggressive push by TV manufacturers to enable TVs to go beyond video.” A taste of what he’s talking about already familiar to millions of video game fans is the home screen of the Nintendo Wii, which, in addition to games, offers links to news, weather, shopping, and photos.

The 15-employee startup collected $5 million in Series A funding from Longworth Venture Partners and CommonAngels in May 2008, and there are plans to raise a Series B round this fall, Phillips says. When it comes to supplying content for tomorrow’s connected screens, Thinking Screen has both technical and strategic advantages over existing and potential competitors, he says.

San Diego-based Chumby, whose interactive media player displays information through “widgets” analogous to Thinking Screen’s channels, is the company’s closest competitor, in Phillips’ judgment. But he thinks Chumby will have a hard time delivering content to devices other than its trademark soft-sided appliance, since the widgets depend on Adobe’s Flash video format, which most other connected screens can’t handle. Thinking Screen’s data, by contrast, is delivered using the Media RSS format, created by Yahoo in 2004 and used by thousands of content publishers.

Thinking Screen also has a network of content and manufacturing partners that would be hard for any other company to match, Phillips says. “The barrier to entry is about partnerships on the content side and more importantly on the screen manufacturer side,” he says. “As we create a critical mass of users, the revenue from advertising is shared with both content providers and screen manufacturers, so there is a stream now that encourages the screen partners to make sure that FrameChannel is enabled on their devices.”

Two new products set to emerge from Thinking Screens in the coming months are designed to widen the service’s appeal to consumers. One is a line of inexpensive digital frames dedicated to a single type of content—examples might include a frame that just shows celebrity news from People magazine or news and scores for the Boston Red Sox.

The other is a selection of 35,000 channels aggregating local information. For example, Phillips says, “You could have a Hopkinton, Massachusetts channel, where we’ve licensed content from local news sources, traffic, weather, relevant sports scores, stock quotes for companies, lottery numbers, a Twitter feed from your state representative—everything to do with Hopkinton. So you can imagine watching the Today show at seven in the morning and as a picture-in-picture experience you’re also getting your local town’s feed.”

Wade Roush is Xconomy’s chief correspondent. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at (617) 252-7323, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wroush.

In-Stat Says Digital Photo Frame Market Will Get Connected

A recent post on NewsBlaze.com predicts – and rightly so, in my opinion – that prices for wireless digital photo frames will continue to go down, and that people are falling in love with their wireless frames and learning to use them for many different purposes!

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – The market for digital photo frames has taken-off, particularly since prices dropped to affordable levels in the first half of 2009, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). However, due to difficult economic conditions and 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. “Applications such as sharing and downloading pictures over the Internet, as well as streaming Internet radio and video from online sites like YouTube, are expected to be primary drivers.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Worldwide unit shipments of all digital photo frames are expected to reach 50 million by 2013.
• Nearly 60% of US respondents to In-Stat’s consumer survey identified integrated wireless connectivity as a desired feature on their next digital photo frame purchase.
• The total silicon opportunity for digital photo frame suppliers will exceed $550 million by 2013. Microcontrollers comprise the largest opportunity in non-wireless enabled devices.
• The bill of materials for a wireless 8-inch digital photo frame will fall below US$36 by 2013; the LCD, the wireless module and the enclosure are the dominant cost items.

The research, “Wi-Fi Represents Strongest Opportunity in Global Connected Digital Photo Frame Market” (#IN0904506ID), covers the worldwide market for wireless digital photo frames. It includes:

• Forecasts of digital photo frame unit sales and revenue (connected and non-connected) by functionality segment through 2013.
• Forecasts of average selling prices and bill of materials for digital photo frames through 2013.
• Total available market forecast for components and silicon through 2013.
• Analysis of a US consumer survey regarding digital frames.
• Profiles of digital photo frame vendors and silicon vendors including: HP, Kodak, Pandigital, Philips, Samsung, Sony, RMI Corporation, Marvell Technology Group, and Samsung Electronics.

About In-Stat

In-Stat’s market intelligence combines technical, market and end-user research and database models to analyze the Mobile Internet and Digital Entertainment ecosystems. Our insights are derived from a deep understanding of technology impacts, nearly 30 years of history in research and consulting, and direct relationships with leading players in each of our core markets. In-Stat provides its research through reports, annual subscriptions, consulting and advisory services to inform critical decisions.

In-Stat
Stephanie Ethier, Senior Analyst
781-879-3282
stephanie.ethier@reedbusiness.com
or
Elaine Potter, Marketing Coordinator
480-483-4441
epotter@reedbusiness.com

FrameChannel Praised On Digital Media Website

Zatz Not Funny – All Your Digital Media Goodness – posted  a really good article about FrameChannel yesterday!

At CES, FrameChannel was represented in about twenty different booths, and over the holiday season, ten different companies sold digital frames with access to FrameChannel content. . . .

. . . right now, FrameChannel appears to be ahead of everyone. And FrameMedia has a plan for it to stay that way.

. . . In talking to COO and co-founder Jon Feingold last week, the key to FrameChannel’s future success is both distribution and the ability to deliver content intelligently. For example, if you’re tagged in a photo on Facebook, or there’s a live game happening with one of your favorite sports teams, FrameMedia’s goal is to have FrameChannel deliver that data when it’s important to you, i.e. in the moment, but probably not so much in a week, or two, or three. FrameMedia is also laser focused on integrating with as many photo sharing sites and social networks as possible. The company wants to make sure you can access your content no matter where it’s stored, in addition to the best of everything else on the Web. . . .

Click here to read the entire FrameChannel article.