Sony intros the HDMS-S1D digital photo album

Have you been hankering for a central spot to store your thrilling, heart-warming family photos? Some easy-to-reach locale where you can pick up a remote, flip on the tube, and travel through a mind-blowing tunnel of memories? Well, let us introduce you to Sony's latest and greatest, the HDMS-S1D "Digital Photo Album." Coming off as a glorified DVD player with an 80GB hard drive and HDMI outs, the new device lets you store and view your precious memories, replete with a soundtrack of your choosing, and slow, dreamy fades between photos (thanks to Sony's x-Pict Story HD -- with face recognition!). How much would you expect to pay for such a device? How does about $400 sound? No good? well, you can't put a price on memories... can you? The whole kit and caboodle is available this month for your purchasing pleasure.

[Darnell @ Oct 17th 2007 10:02PM]

Sony steps up to the plate, a swing...
(crowd ooo's)
...and a miss.
(crowd chants "we want our money back!")

[nih @ Oct 17th 2007 10:03PM]

I hope they made it easy enough for grandma to use, because she's going to be the only one using it.

In many ways a product like this is still a good idea, except you want it to be rugged enough to last a couple of centuries. Your internal media had better be darn good to stand the test of time.

[Kyle Simmons @ Oct 17th 2007 10:08PM]

Great idea...but no one will use it. I can't imagine why anyone would use this over their computer.

[Anthony @ Oct 18th 2007 11:41AM]

If the Sony digital album could: Automatically sync w/ a computer (or 2, or flickr), have a reasonably large hard drive (80gig just isn't enough these days) & was made to withstand the impending doom (no specifics- just take your pick), then I'd be all up for one. Even at $400.

[Kyle Simmons @ Oct 17th 2007 10:09PM]

This is a test.

[AJ @ Oct 17th 2007 10:12PM]

Not sure if anyone should get this when there are less expensive streaming devices out there and more coming out. $400 and another devices with a fan to add noise to your already cluttered entertainment center.

As always, Sony goes all out with a product designed for hobbyists with fat wallets. It's probably nice, but...why?

[AJ @ Oct 17th 2007 10:15PM]

I should clarify that I understand this isn't a streaming device and doesn't really need to be connected to a network, but why have another hard drive "in the wild"? Just get a NAS and stream your stuff with a front-end.

[Mark @ Oct 17th 2007 10:17PM]

not interested when Sony DRM's all of their products to the point of being overly expensive paperweights.

[M @ Oct 17th 2007 10:39PM]

If it did video with supports for tons of codecs and picture formats, I would get one... even at 400 bucks. as just a picture viewer, no way.
M

[yui @ Oct 17th 2007 10:35PM]

Well, i think it looks nice, and the idea is good too.
To release such convenient product is far better than the dancing music player...
I will take this as soon as there is a.....price drop

[Daniel Smith @ Oct 18th 2007 1:20AM]

I think I'll stick with my PS3 it has good slideshow effects.

[me @ Oct 17th 2007 10:43PM]

just when you think they couldnt take anything else out of the ps3... they took out the games!
and at the same price its gonna be in a few weeks!

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Oct 17th 2007 11:21PM]

It's awefully nice and has analogue audio-component video, USB, and Gigabit, but the $400 price tag is killer. For the money, I'd be better off getting a blu-ray player (i.e. 60-80GB PS3) with JPG, BMP, and PNG support and burn my pics to 25-50GB blu-ray discs. Or using my oldest PC with an HDMI-DVI graphics card.


http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/sony/sony-introduces-hdms+s1d-an-80gb-networked-digital-photo-album-312158.php

[yui @ Oct 18th 2007 4:43AM]

thanks for the link!
wtf sony
resolution only up to...1080i?!
not for me then. I could buy 1 more PS3.

[Galley @ Oct 17th 2007 11:31PM]

WTF? For $400 I vould get a PlayStation 3 that does the same thing, and much, much more.

[Kevo @ Oct 18th 2007 12:29AM]

$400 for a glorified 80GB hard drive and memory card reader with a couple video outs?!?! Has everyone gone mad?? Xboxes, PS3s and any computer can do this and much more for much less.

I don't need a stupid box in my entertainment area and have to explain to friends that it's a photo storage device. Then have to explain what that means and why it's better than a regular computer.

I hope for Sony's sake that it's marketed to wealthy idiots.

[AJ @ Oct 18th 2007 1:56AM]

I cannot see anybody but those wealthy idiots buying this $hit.

[Andrew @ Oct 18th 2007 3:32AM]

Nice, but for the pricetag and what they're trying to do, they need upwards of 250GB on that thing to make it even nearly worthwhile.

[starwxrwx @ Oct 18th 2007 4:05AM]

might as well use your freaking ipod!

[matt @ Oct 18th 2007 7:46AM]

And people said that the Apple TV was a bad deal?

[Mak @ Oct 18th 2007 8:53AM]

Get a PS3, it does EVRYTHING this does, and so much more...

[Tammie @ Oct 18th 2007 11:39AM]

Or buy an XBox 360 and link it up to your computer... That's what I've done, and I have 1TB on my computer, not a measly 80GB.