Photo Frame Alarm Clocks

Hello, Clock Fans across the world.

Here on the Alarm Clock Blog we like to bring you all the latest news about new alarm clocks, just as fast as we discover them. New alarm clock gadgets are being released onto the global marketplace on a daily basis and researching and reporting on the subject of alarm clocks never bores us – there are simply way too many interesting and absurd gadgets being created!

The newest trend in Alarm Clocks that we’ve discovered is: Photo Frame Alarm Clocks.

These are strange hybrid devices originally designed as digital photo frames which have mutated into being an alarm clock and/or clock radio.

Here we’re talking about either devices whose main purpose is to be used as a digital photo frame which also has an alarm clock function; or the other way around: there are some devices designed to function primarily as alarm clocks, which also just happen to have a digital photo frame feature. The latter category are kind of boring, since these tend to be, more or less, basic alarm clocks which also display one of your digital images…so these will be discussed less in this post than the gadgets of the former type.

So, what are the features of Photo Frame Alarm Clocks? What do these new gadgets do exactly, and how well do they do it?

Well, you just hang on to your hat, there, Junior…because we’re getting ready to answer all those questions and more.

First of all, we learned about the entire world of Photo Frame Alarm Clocks in this post on TechCrunch, in which they reviewed the HP DreamScreen:

To be fair to HP, they didn’t really market it as much more than a glorified digital picture frame, the press just got out of hand. But even that’s too much. The device costs $250. It lacks a touchscreen. It lacks a browser. It lacks a battery. And it has the annoying habit of running a very loud demo video every few minutes – the only way to make it stop is to unplug it. Which is very effective, since it lacks a battery (not a good idea when you market yourself as a digital clock). And HP did nothing to stop rabid bloggers and journalists from heralding the device as some sort of Apple killer. I can’t help but wonder if any of these guys actually tried the device.

But before you share TechCrunch‘s negative review, take a look at the HP DreamScreen in the form of a demo video:

Did anyone notice the amazing similarity to OnlineClock in the digital numerals at the beginning of the video?!

Hmmmm…looks like those folks might need a stern talking to

But HP is not the only manufacturer offering this strange combination of Digital Photo Frame and Alarm Clock, there are many other brands and models as well, including:

The Sunpak 13-Inch Digital Photo Frame with Calendar and Alarm Clock (check it out here)
The Polaroid XSA-00660S Widescreen Digital Photo Frame and Alarm Clock Radio (check it out here)
The Pandigital Touch Screen Digital Photo Frame (check it out here)
The Philips Color Photo Viewer With Radio, Clock And Alarm (check it out here)

All of these Photo Frame Alarm Clocks enable you, of course, to display your digital photos in an electronic picture frame and also offer you the option of using the device as an alarm clock.

The HP DreamScreen seems to have developed the furthest, by adding the most wireless internet-enabled widgets to their photo frame.

The widgets available in the HP DreamScreen include: Facebook (Social Network), Pandora (Radio), Snapfish (Photo Sharing) and what they call HP SmartRadio.

But let’s just take a look at HP’s own promotional video on the incorporation of Internet Services Widgets into the DreamScreen:

So, what’s your reaction to this kind of an alarm clock gadget?

Frankly, we find it to be a bit stupid, especially when you consider the price.

The DreamScreen retails at about $250 for the 10 inch version and $300 for the 13 inch version, which is in the same price territory as a lot of NetBooks.

With a NetBook you can of course use all web-browser based internet services without restriction by a third party. If you pay careful attention to the promo video from HP above, the DreamScreen gives you read-only access to Facebook, for example. What good is being hooked up to Facebook if you can’t even create a new status update?! Social Networks are designed for interactivity…for discussions back and forth. And if this is not easily possible using an intelligent Photo Frame device, then these widgets seem to be largely useless.

But, more than this, who would want to be restricted to the small number of widgets and internet services that they’ve selected to support for the DreamScreen? Internet Services are trendy: new ones come every day, become popular, become less popular. Why would you want to pay about $300 for a device that restricts your usage to its own selection of such services? We can imagine that it would be very easy to become quickly frustrated with limited services offered by this gadget.

Instead, we simply recommend purchasing a NetBook or a Subnotebook computer, bookmarking your favorite internet services and websites, and using it as an alarm clock and radio, using OnlineClock’s clock radio application.

The nice thing is: there are no restrictions to the web services you use on a Laptop, Subnotebook or Netbook computer.

You can change them according to whim. Whenever new ones come along, you can begin using them immediately, and not just with “read only” access.

And, if you ever decide to no longer use your computer as an alarm clock or a clock radio, you can even use it as…a computer.

What’s that for a crazy idea, you say: using a computer…as a computer?

Nah, that’ll never work!

Tags: alarm clock gadgets, Crazy Alarm Clocks, Crazy Clocks, digital photo frame alarm clock, hp dreamscreen, photo frame alarm clock, photo frame alarm clocks, photo frame clock radio, picture frame alarm clock, picture frame alarm clocks