Digital Frames Go Wireless

By Staff On Sep 15 2008 - 6:00am

Sony and Samsung added wireless digital photo frames to their lineups earlier this month.

Samsung said it would ship four new digital photo frames to dealers this fall, including two Wi-Fi-enabled models.

The company will have a pair of 8-inch and a pair of 10-inch frames. All will use the company's "Starlight Touch Control" interface.

When connected to a laptop or desktop computer via USB, the frames can double as a monitor thanks to Samsung's UbiSync feature.

The Wi-Fi frames can share photos via Windows Live Spaces and can connect with Frame Channel's digital frame content service in addition to RSS feeds from USA Today.

The 8-inch SPF-85H, for $129, features an 800 by 600 resolution screen, 1GB of internal memory, automatic on/off and automatic photo resizing. The 8-inch SPF-85V adds Wi-Fi connectivity, a rechargeable battery and downsizes the internal memory to 65MB. It will retail for $199.

Samsung will ship the 10-inch SPF-105P in October for $199. It offers a 1,024 by 600 resolution screen, a rechargeable battery and 1GB of internal memory.

The SPF-105V (November, $289) adds Wi-Fi, auto image rotation and lowers the internal memory to 64MB.

Sony will ship a new Wi-Fi-enabled digital photo frame with the Vaio brand to dealers in October.

The 7-inch CP1 sports an 800 by 480 resolution display and 128MB of internal memory, and it accepts Memory Sticks, SD and CF memory cards.

The unit can wirelessly stream images from a PC or from Google's Picasa Web Albums online service. The CP1 also includes a built-in RSS reader, for displaying news headlines and other content from the Web.

It also incorporates built-in speakers and an Internet radio player, a digital clock and a screen dimmer that kicks on when room lighting is shut off.

The CP1 will retail for $300.