The thing has a 9-inch display, SD slot, 4GB of internal memory and USB connectivity. It'll be $300, which is expensive enough that you might want to get a photo frame, iPod dock and speakers separately. Those components will probably perform better than this all-in-one anyway. [Pr Newswire via Engadget]

The Price: $230 or so on Google Shopping

The Verdict: Very interesting and very promising. It's more expensive than a standard router, but the fact that it does have a small photo frame (it's only 3.2 inches) and space for a 2.5-inch laptop hard drive makes it impressive. All of these features work, but they work in varying degrees.

The Router: D-Link's not inexperienced at making networking devices, so it's not surprising that the DIR-685 works quite well as a wireless hub for all your stuff. Wireless range is comparable to an Airport Extreme or a Linksys WRT610N, and reaches all three floors of my house, through various amounts of walls. Speed is also on par with the other two routers, and can wirelessly stream files with little problem to various media players, as we cover below.

The Media Streamer: Again, the engineers at D-Link managed to shove in a bunch of functionality that you wouldn't expect. You get a BitTorrent downloader, an iTunes server, an FTP server, network file sharing with user management and even a UPnP streamer to video players.

The iTunes server works exactly as you'd imagine, and shoving MP3s onto its hard drive immediately shows the same songs under the shared iTunes library. The video streaming works pretty flawlessly to the Xbox and the PS3, same as if you were streaming from your PC or from a Windows Home Server. Plus, there's D-Link's SharePort tech so you can plug in a printer or an external hard drive to the two USB ports, making for even more networkable storage in a relatively small package.

The only problem is that the combination of a hard drive and a fan inside a compact router makes the thing much, much louder than a standard router. It's probably on par with Xbox 360's level of ambient noise when the fan is on, which everyone knows is quite distracting when you're trying to do anything.

The Photo Frame: It is a photo frame, but a 3.2-inch photo frame is like docking your iPhone and calling that a photo frame. But yeah, it is a photo frame, and it does run the standard FrameChannel software, which we're not really fans of.

FrameChannel is an easy way for photo frame makers to add functionality without developing it themselves. It has RSS feeds, news, weather, sports, plus Photosharing sites like Flickr, Facebook, MobileMe, Picasa, Photobucket and smugmug to actually get photos onto your frame. It's "stable", for the most part, but it's nothing pleasurable to use.

The DIR-685's touch buttons aren't that responsive either, when navigating the frame, so you're often stuck pressing things multiple times to see if the command's gone through. But it is as good a photo frame as any other photo frame using FrameChannel.

The Whole Package: With all these different components, you're bound to get some conflicting parts. The problem we have is that if you want to use this as a photo frame, you'll want to place this in your living room or your bedroom or kitchen somewhere where you can see it quite often. This clashes with the occasional noise generated by using it as a media streamer, because of the fan and hard drive noise. If you take out the hard drive, the noise goes away.

At $230, it's a pretty solid package, giving you three bits of functionality usually found separately. Provided you can place it somewhere out of the way to hide the noise, the DIR-685 is a winner. [DLink]

Three-in-one router provides lots of functionality in a small package

Slightly pricey

The fan/hard drive combination makes for a noisy experience

The company has told Forbes that "several 'powered by Chumby' gadgets" will launch in the coming months. They have struck partnerships with Sony, Samsung, Broadcom and others.

The first product to launch will be a digital photo frame and will be followed by TVs, Blu-Ray players, clocks and radios. Chumby, you really don't think Yahoo's platform is good enough, huh? [Forbes]

The RSS headlines can be overlaid on the photos, as can a clock. As you can see above, Sony has eschewed tacky photo frame styling for a sleek, minimal look, which makes the somewhat steep price tag hurt a bit less. The network, RSS and audio streaming are welcome additions to normal frame fare, but as the sole widgets on this $300 frame, they are as much reminders that this apparently capable hardware is being underutilized as they are useful features. The CP1 will be available at Sony Style stores and online sometime in mid-October. Full press release below. [Sony]

DENVER (CEDIA Booth #600), Sept. 3, 2008 ⎯ Sony today unveiled the wireless VAIO® CP1 Wi-Fi photo frame, making it easier than ever to share digital images as well as receive news and stream Internet radio in real-time.

Utilizing built-in Wi-Fi technology, the CP1 model lets you stream photos from a VAIO PC directly to the device. Featuring more than 16 million colors and 800x480 resolution, photos locked away on your PC will now come to life on the photo frame’s brilliant 7-inch LCD screen.

In addition to streaming images from a VAIO PC, the CP1 model can also connect to Google™ Picasa™ web albums. This enables you to view up to four web albums simultaneously, as well as upload photos directly to a Picasa account.

“How many times have you uploaded images to our PC— vowing to share them— never to see them again,” said Xavier Lauwaert, product manager for VAIO product marketing at Sony Electronics. “This new frame provides an easy way to retrieve and share these precious memories that otherwise would have been forgotten.”

In addition to its ability to wirelessly access photos, the CP1 model can display images from compatible Memory Stick® media, SD cards or digital still cameras providing instant access to your latest shots. It is also CompactFlash® media card-compatible, making it convenient for those who use a digital SLR camera.

And with 128MB internal storage, up to 100 digital images can be saved directly to the new photo frame for viewing anytime.

Keeping your images and slideshows organized is easy as well. Content is grouped into sections called “frames,” making it easy to enjoy photos, information and music. You can choose from Slideshow— for movie-like presentations, Flow— which creates a slideshow with fun, special-effects, and Dissolve— a more traditional view that fades images into one another.

It also has an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader built-in, which enables it to grab news headlines and entertainment content from the Internet and display it along with your slideshows. Operating in real-time, the RSS function provides you up-to-the-minute information.

The new CP1 model also features built-in stereo speakers and an Internet radio player for enriching slideshows with your favorite style of music.

Other features include a digital/analog clock and the ability to save energy by dimming the screen automatically when a room’s lights are turned off.

The VAIO CP1 digital photo frames will retail for about $300. They will be available at Sony Style® stores and online at HYPERLINK "http://www.sonystyle.com/cp1" www.sonystyle.com/pr/cp1 starting in mid-October.

The $180 M820 and $230 M1020 support all of the major memory card formats and USB drives, as well as make with the MP3 and MPEG (1 and 4) video playback. The $120 P720 is more basic, dropping the multimedia and CF card support. Can we get some Wi-Fi syncing, at least in the higher end model, please? [Kodak]

I will admit it's kind of cool watching the printer add layers of dye sublimation to add build one full picture, but the novelty quickly wears off. It takes about a minute to print, and it's instantly touchable. But the photos suck. This is a pre-production model, so it could get better, but the sample I printed removed all subtlety from the photo—shadow detail lost, whites blown out and noticeable bleed.

The paper stock is mediocre and you can't even upgrade—you buy proprietary cartridges for $20 that have 36 sheets, with dye cartridge to match. Then you've gotta buy a new one. The printer, as you can imagine, adds a little lot of heft. This hunchbacked mess is not the digital photo frame you were looking for. [Giz @ PMA]

D-LINK DEBUTS Wi-Fi INTERNET AND WIDGET CONTROLLED DIGITAL PHOTO FRAME

Frame Easily Managed Using Web or Drag and Drop Desktop Widget

LAS VEGAS, NV, Jan. 6, 2008 - D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumer and business, today announced future release of a digital photo frame that enables users to quickly and easily manage content displayed using a convenient website or with a drag and drop desktop widget.

The D-Link® Internet Photo Frame (DSM-210) is easily managed using an intuitive website (dlink.framechannel.com), where users can organize photos online for display as well as remotely stream content such as weather, news, trivia and more using popular Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds.

With built-in wired and wireless adapters, the DSM-210 also gives users the choice to simply drag and drop digital photos into photo frames using a "widget" located on the computer desktop, which then automatically displays the photos as a slide show on the photo frame. The widget also allows a user to remotely manage a frame over the Internet using the same drag and drop method, making it the perfect gift for someone who is a novice computer user, letting the giver of the frame remotely manage the photos and content displayed.

Unlike traditional digital photo frames, this next-generation photo frame is designed to enhance the home entertainment experience by allowing users to view their favorite photos easily and conveniently virtually anywhere in the home or over the Internet - providing a high-resolution 10" LCD display connected over a wired or wireless home network.

The DSM-210 features a 16 x 9 inch screen and includes an interchangeable black or white frame. It contains slots for USB and common memory cards, and can be networked via an Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi. The digital photo frame is widget compatible and can connect directly to the PC or via Internet options. With a rechargeable battery and premium content available, the frame comes with a one-year subscription for basic Internet content.
D-Link also plans to introduce custom skins, via a partnership with Skinit, to allow customers to personalize the outer portion frame to whatever color or pattern they choose.

Price and Availability
The D-Link DSM-210 is expected to be available in Q1, 2008 through D-Link's network of retail outlets, value-added resellers, solution providers and distributors, or at the company's online store, www.dlinkshop.com, for the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $249.99.

If you're wondering why you'd pay nearly $600 for a photo frame, well, you'll have to remember that this runs Linux. Which means you can pretty much (as long as you have some programming knowledge) extend it to do anything. Streaming pictures off your PC, showing stuff off of Flickr, or anything else you can come up with. – Jason Chen

Product Page [TheRedPost via FreshArrival]

Later this year, Samsung will release 8- and 12-inch version of their new 800 x 480 pixel 7" photo frames. They don't only look like the lost son of an old Apple Cinema Display, but they are also Wi-Fi enabled and will automagically search for PCs with Vista, displaying photos, movies and MP3s stored on the PC via Windows Media Player 11. And images from the Internet, via RSS.

All photo frames come with a 4-in-1 memory card reader and a USB port for cameras and portable storage devices. At $305 for 7", I won't risk a divorce pointing it to the wrong image feed, but you can also try the non-Wi-Fi one, the SPH-72H, for $238. – Jesus Diaz

New, Larger Samsung SPH-72P and SPH-72H Digital Photo Frames debut [Techshout]
Samsung dévoile deux cadres : le SPH-72H et le SPH-72V [GenerationMP3]

UPDATE: apparently, there was a mistake in the original report and these frames don't support MP3 or movie playback. Too bad, really.

PF Digital promises the following improvements in the eStarling photo frame:

- Full Wi-Fi range of at least 120 feet
- New motherboard and updated firmware
- Internal antenna not visible from the outside of the frame
- New front bezel design with no eStarling logo on the front of the frame
- Standalone feature allows frame to pull photos from any POP e-mail address without needing to connect to the eStarling server
- View photos on a media card without needing a wi-fi Internet connection

The last we heard from ThinkGeek, a new Wi-Fi transmitter was in the offing, which the company said would be shipped to us within a few weeks. Fast-forward six weeks, when we received this e-mail yesterday afternoon.

Clicking through the link on the e-mail, it was a simple matter to sign up for this recall program, which includes free shipping of the new unit, and a shipping label to return the hapless version 1.0 as soon as version 2.0 arrives. ThinkGeek will also accept returns of version 2.0 if doesn't measure up for 30 days after receiving it.

It's a remarkable effort on the part of ThinkGeek to make good on a product that was certainly not up to snuff. Nice move, ThinkGeek. We'll keep you updated, dear readers and fellow eStarling sufferers, on what happens. – Charlie White

Support (links to press release) [eStarling]

Here's why you should care, numb skull: Most photo frames these days are big on bells and whistles, but the LCDs look like ass. Color accuracy is important for video, but when it comes to still images, if the color ain't right, grandma's tan is going to make skin look the hue of Tang. Not pretty. This is an update of their last 7-inch frame, and its cheaper at $199, holds about 50% more photos, and has interchangeable borders, like the striking red you see above.

Philips LCDs aren't the biggest, and unlike others, they don't have WiFi. But this 7-inch model is bright, at 200 nits, which is less than a big old computer LCD, but it still holds up in daylight. The LCD runs at 800 by 480, which is a pretty tight res for such a small screen. And what else can I say about it? The shit looks good.

Read on for the gallery, info on the luscious borders, brilliant features, and a bug or two...

It comes with 4 different borders that click into its plexiglass frame. The colors? Red, White, Silver, and Black. It reads SD and CF memory cards, or can be accessed as a mass storage device by PC, so you can load photos direct by wire. The frame copies photos to its internal memory, resizing them to its native res first, so the frame can hold up to 150 images. Some problems? Some portrait photos I uploaded didn't rotate properly, and the slideshow tech are kind. A really smart feature is that the frame has about 45 minutes of battery life, so you can unplug it, and pass it around to friends and family without it dropping dead. And speaking of power, there's a timer that'll shut the LCD off at certain times of day, so you're not wasting juice. Also, its pretty efficient, soaking up only 12 watts.

In a sentence, it's pretty, the screen is gorgeous, although it lacks the features of other net enabled photo frames.–Brian Lam

Philips [Philips]