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

Get ready for femtocells: Ubiquisys raises $11 M

I’ve posted here before about Motorola’s innovative use of femtocells, but over on VentureBeat.com, Jared Newman has written a great post about how femtocells can defeat all that “dead space” even the best wireless coverage will sometimes have:

If you’ve used an iPhone, you’ll know how frustratingly spotty its wireless coverage can be.

Fact is, wireless carriers such as AT&T (which serves the iPhone) are desperately searching for ways to unload the huge amount of traffic that are hitting their networks from iPhone and other smartphone owners. These users are slurping up large amounts of bandwidth to do things like browse the Internet and watch videos.

Ubiquisys is getting ready to attack cell phone dead zones and overcrowded 3G networks around the world with its femtocell technology. Today it announced it has raised $11 million more from existing investors, which it will use to support the service as it moves from testing to soft launch.

Femtocells are small devices that let cell phones tap the Internet in places where wireless cellular service is weak or unavailable. Calls are routed by low-power antenna through an existing DSL or cable router, or through an all-in-one device (such as Netgear’s Femtocell Voice Gateway) that includes both the router and the femtocell.

Femtocells haven’t taken off in a big way yet, but wireless carriers are definitely interested in femtocells’ ability to take a load off cellular networks. Last September, Ubiquisys and Japanese mobile carrier Softbank launched the first commercial 3G femtocells, using “ZoneGate” technology that allows devices to communicate and determine the best radio frequency for routing to the Internet.

Swindon, U.K.-based Ubiquisys is looking for partnerships around the world with more carriers, who often charge a monthly fee for the service. In exchange, customers may get perks, such as unlimited calling when using the femtocell. The idea is that the consumer can save money by nixing a local phone line, because the cell phone is reliable enough to replace it, while the carrier gets to ease the stress on its network.

The company’s chief executive, Chris Gilbert, said there’s been a spike in femtocell interest over the last few months, either signaling a possible economic recovery or a need from carriers to start addressing their network issues. Even in the United States, where femtocell interest was once driven coverage dead zones, the explosion in smartphone use has put a strain on wireless carriers. The renewed interest around the world has helped Ubiquisys raise its most recent round of funding, which now totals $53 million since August 2006.

Ubiquisy has backing from Accel Partners, Advent Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, T-Mobile Venture Fund and, most notably, Google, which invested $25 million in the company two years ago.

Gilbert said Ubiquisys faces competition from Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent, among other smaller ventures, but those two companies don’t focus specifically on femtocell. As such, Gilbert said Ubiquisys is growing horizontally to a variety of companies and products, rather than vertically.

In addition to getting its technology into router-like devices, Gilbert wants Ubiquisys to work with TV and set-top box makers, allowing femtocell to cover more convenient areas of the home.

Wireless/Digital Picture Frame Reviews at CoolestGadgets.com!

If you are in the market for a wireless/digital picture frame – and I really hope you are! – Coolest Gadgets.com has posted an excellent list, in chart form,  of many wireless/digital picture frames, complete with descriptions, general features, special features, and prices.

Some of the brands included on the chart are Kodak, Pandigital, eStarling, Phillips, and Portable USA.

PhotoVu Wireless Picture Frames: 150,000 Digital Photos in Your Slideshow!

PhotoVu announced, last Friday, that it had released new software that will support a person’s entire photo collections – 150,000 pictures or MORE!

Whether you are a fan of PhotoVu’s wireless digital picture frames or its digital signage displays, this news is remarkable!

Mark Van Buskirk, partner, Photovu, tells us that “As our customers’ photo collections continue to expand, we are pleased to offer this new and exciting, almost limitless capability.  As always, PhotoVu displays an entire photo collection on teh wall in high resolution, so our customers never get tired of seeing just a small subset of their photos.  PhotoVu is unique among all wirelesss digital picture frames in its ability to play 150,000 or more photos in a single slide show.”

PhotoVu products – wireless digital picture frames and digital signage – are “made in the USA,” and can access pictures stored on any windows or Mac computer.  Customers can see slideshows of their pictures almost no matter where they’re stored: iPhoto, Flickr, FrameChannel, MobileMe, Photobucket, Picasa, Web Albums, SmugMug, Webshots, and Windows Live FrameIt.