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The Sony Digital Photo Frame
Sony was one of the first companies to anticipate the digital frame era with the release of the Sony CyberFrame (PHD-A55) in 1999. Unfortunately, since digital cameras were not yet a popular item and the manufacture of digital photo frames was very costly, further development was temporarily stalled.
One of those environmental initiatives at Sony is sustainable packaging. This has become an outstanding component of Sony’s commitment to environmental policy when developing its products. Packaging is usually designed mainly to attract the attention of the consumer. But Sony goes a step farther by also helping its customers to easily sort out and identify what to recycle in its packaging when it comes to its disposal. To encourage sorting for recycling, boxes are labeled appropriately. Additionally, as much as possible, Sony avoids using materials that are derived from petrochemicals and incorporates recycled materials into its products whenever possible. The packaging for the S-Frame Sony digital photo frame is an excellent example of the consumer-conscious thought processes that go into Sony’s innovative designs. Since digital photo frames are apt to be bought as gifts, it is perfectly natural to pre-program these products with digital photo memories before gifting. With that fact in mind, the Sony digital photo frame S-Frame package contains an inner box that was intentionally designed to be used when giving the frame as a gift. For this same reason, even the protective cushioning is made of molded and colored recycled material rather than cheap cardboard.
Before launching the Sony digital photo frame, the S-Frame, Sony’s designers sought to enhance the thinking on what digital photo frames should and could be. The user interface is designed to be integrated into the industrial design as a whole to allow viewers to be able to not only view their photos but also to remember how they felt when these memories were recorded. An important concept involved in the design was to make the frames as simple as possible so that the digital photos remain the focal point. The first series of S-frames has a single clear panel in the front of the frame giving it more of an appearance of a black glass panel than just a picture frame. The Sony S frames come in just a few colors. They are black, white, brown and red. The thought behind this also has a lot to do with gift-giving. These frames are meant to fit well into the décor of any home.
The X series also needed a smoother front surface with material that was strong enough to withstand resin sealing to the screen (to reduce glare). The answer was a front panel of glass rather than acrylic.
On the back of the X frames, the memory slot can be found behind the cover. This way, the slot keeps free of dust even when the frame is in portrait orientation. The stand only needs to be screwed in. These frames are wall-mountable. Again, thanks to Sony design, when hanging the frame, just unscrew the stand and it can be stored on the back of the frame where a magnet will hold it in place. Sony also put quite a bit of thinking into their slideshow modes. Keeping to the commitment that the photos are of utmost importance, the slideshow transitions are very gradual and natural, not flashy. And to extend the practicality of these frames, the user interface also offers thoughtfully designed clocks and calendars. As a general rule, Sony products, especially their digital frames, tend to be a bit pricey. But if quality, ease of use, practical design and expectations of performance are met, then you can hardly make a wrong choice with a Sony digital frame. New and refurbished Sony digital frames can be found on the sonystyle.com website. A good variety of new and used Sony frames can always be found online at Amazon.com
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