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Seth Weintraub

Apple versus Google

Google's Android now jumping onto digital photo frames

6 comments

TAGS:Android, Google, netbooks, Picture Frames
IT TOPICS:Linux, Mobile & Wireless, Open Source, Operating Systems, Personal Technology

Digital photo frames already run simple operating systems. They run remote controls, Wifi, browse server shares, play movies, etc. But that's just the beginning for these sub-$100 items.

What if Google got on board? Imagine Android market, a quick little Chrome browser, maybe a Skype client on every photo frame in your house. That's just the beginning. You could check you gmail account, calendar and have your Google dashboard.

And of course, the real tie-in: Picassa photo albums.

That's the idea behind "Software Platform for Home Network Digital Photo Frame", a joint venture between Macnica Inc, a Japanese firm developing and marketing semiconductors and network devices, and Fujitsu Software Technologies Ltd.

Image via Engadget

With all of these possible features, when do these things stop being photo frames and start being "stationary multimedia tablets"? I don't think it matters to Google what you call it, as long as it can run its OS and serve up some advertising. If it turns into cheap home entertainment and a productivity tool, all the better for Google.

So Google Android will operate on phones, netbooks and now photo frames. What's next?

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What People Are Saying

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Why? Why? Why? Why would you

Submitted by Anonymous on May 14, 2009 - 11:20 A.M.

Why? Why? Why?

Why would you want to check your email/calendar on a photo frame?

Sounds ridiculous.

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It isnt that someone said I want a computer in a frame

Submitted by Anonymous on May 14, 2009 - 6:21 P.M.

Digital frames are taking off, as time goes by the process will get better and you will have a keyboardless computer near you. so why get up if you just want to double check something when it is right their. They will most likely all be wifi in the relatively near future to make it easier to update photos, they could even pull photos off friends and families sources of images as they upload them without the owner having to do anything but tell it who you want to check their photo gallery periodically.

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Why? Because it would be

Submitted by Anonymous on May 14, 2009 - 1:25 P.M.

Why? Because it would be cool to have a picture of a friend pop up, a light next to them saying they are online, and a tap away from calling them via Skype.

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Neat!

Submitted by Anonymous on May 14, 2009 - 2:35 P.M.

What a cool idea! I hope someone builds that!

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Why not?

Submitted by forever4now on May 14, 2009 - 12:25 P.M.

This sounds like a great idea!

It can be a photo frame, a bedside alarm clock, a YouTube video viewer, an MP3 player, ...

The best part is, you don't have to boot up your normal computer to do all this stuff.

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hmm...sounds like a

Submitted by Anonymous on May 14, 2009 - 4:40 P.M.

hmm...sounds like a mini-computer in the guise of a photo frame. Why not call it a "computer frame" - It just so happens that the form factor resembles a photograph frame; but depending on what you have it running and where it is located it could be an alarm clock, an recipe reader, a phone , a weather station, a news reader, whatever.

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