Aequitas iGala Wireless Digital Picture Frame is touchscreen photo-browsing perfection

We know, you started yawning at the sight of the headline, your ears will pop with relief by the middle of this paragraph, and you'll finish up somewhere around the Read link. We get it. But there's something kinda special about the brand new iGala Wireless Digital Picture Frame from Aequitas, we'll call it "common sense." The photo frame sports an 8-inch, 800 x 600 touchscreen, 1GB of internal storage, WiFi and the traditional complement of card readers. What's new here is that iGala really puts that WiFi connection to use, featuring Gmail integration (for sending photos), an alarm clock and integration with Microsoft's FrameIt service for news, traffic and weather info. The frame also hooks up to Flickr directly, which is such a no-brainer these days that we're surprised we see still so many "connected" frames lacking the feature. A full touchscreen makes all of this stuff actually possible to use, and the $239 pricetag doesn't mean you have to get soaked for the convenience. iGala is available now from Aequitas' entirely sketchy online store -- we guess you can't win 'em all.

[Via Digital Picture Frame Review]

[kjb434 @ Nov 13th 2008 1:52PM]

Look! It's iPhone for your picture frame!

[Josh @ Nov 13th 2008 1:52PM]

I see the music icon, and if its got WIFI, then can it stream internet radio? Thats all I want for my shower happiness. If it doesn't, anybody know any digital frames that do stream internet radio? Thanks!

[joe23521 @ Nov 13th 2008 1:55PM]

Why do you need a WiFi picture frame for the shower? Wait...don't answer that.

[Heikwan Cheng @ Nov 13th 2008 3:38PM]

If you want it really bad, I can do it for you.

[ThomD @ Nov 13th 2008 1:55PM]

Have you guys actually used any of these frames. Most of what you say makes this one "special" - Flikr link, email photos to frame, news, traffic and weather, are available on frames from about a dozen brands that use the Frame Channel service. The alarm clock is interesting, but who wants a touch screen? Fingerprints on a photo frame do not sound like a good idea to me. A simple remote is a better idea.

[Bruce Lewis @ Nov 14th 2008 5:52AM]

It would be nice if they would tell us if the Aequitas frame supports Media RSS feeds, so we could know if it worked with FrameChannel and OurDoings.

[donno @ Nov 14th 2008 4:29PM]

iGala doesn't support generic RSS input directly, but you can always use FrameIt to ingest any RSS feeds to make it show up on iGala. The model for Frame Channel shall come out around January 2009.

[Christian @ Nov 13th 2008 2:05PM]

I don't mind it being a touchscreen as I'm a neat freak and OCD that I'd clean it even if it was clean arleady. I just have to laugh on how sketchy that site really is, there's no info on anything at all and only thing really interesting to click on is the add to cart...

[dark star @ Nov 13th 2008 2:07PM]

someone please hack it! would be a sweet 8inch tablet!

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 13th 2008 2:08PM]

These are just becoming all-in-one PC's without keyboards or tablet devices.

[Mick @ Nov 13th 2008 2:12PM]

Do any of these wifi enabled digital photo frames include the ability to display photos from a shared network drive? I've read the features of most of these and cannot determine if they support this feature. I don't care about the other stuff, just cycle through all of my photos on my server.

[ThomD @ Nov 13th 2008 2:17PM]

Yes Dlink's frame will pull from network shares. I think you have to run Windows Media Player 11 as a uPnP service or something. I use RSS feeds.

And, yes to anyone paying attention, I keep mentioning the DLink because it does seem to offer most of the features people keep asking about. No, I don't own any stock in whoever owns Dlink.

[Stas @ Nov 14th 2008 3:23AM]

I have the D-link frame. It's OK at best. It does see my Synology DS207+ NAS and will read photos directly off it. No video support. Framechannel is buggy and feels like a beta at best (can only pull ONE picasa album at a time. Facebook and other sources are limited to 100 photos. Random function is really not that random and you need to log into framechannel to reset it from time to time. It also does not have a timer function, so you do have to turn it off manually before going to sleep (or lay still for 15 minutes, so it shuts off)

Overall, I don't think it was worth 240 bucks, but guess what - D Link does not accept returns! (The first frame I got would reboot randomly every 10 min or so) So yeah, kind of stuck with this one.

[ThomD @ Nov 14th 2008 8:06AM]

Stas,

Interesting to compare experiences. I did find a bug in Frame Channel's web interface, but it was minor and they fixed it in less than a day. The limitations on feed sizes could be a problem for some, but didn't apply for me do I didn't notice them. That one Picasa album at a time thing is surprising. I just noticed that they've added a couple of new pre-configured sources in the last week, so maybe they can fix that. Send them a note.

I like that the DLink has a motion sensor to shut itself off. I think that would be easier than having to set a schedule on a timer. You said you had to login to Frame to reset something once it a while. What was that? I only ran mine for a week or two before boxing it up as a gift, so I didn't see anything that required a reset on the web site, but maybe I just didn't notice it.

[TJ @ Nov 13th 2008 2:18PM]

Been looking for something like this for the grandparents. I got them a Ceiva a few years back, but the yearly $99.95 subscription fee is getting old.

[Ian @ Nov 13th 2008 2:21PM]

I wonder if one of these could be hacked into a cheap touchscreen solution for home automation. Anyone know what these kinds of frames run on?

[donno @ Nov 13th 2008 4:43PM]

This platform will be opened up some time in the future.

[Dan @ Nov 13th 2008 2:28PM]

Somewhere a advertisement weenie is thinking of how he can use these to spam us with visual ads in waiting areas and perhaps even link them to our browsing habits stored on our phones which I am sure will be as well targeted as the spam I get in my inbox. With any luck I can hear about how I need softer toilet paper or erectile dysfunction medication while I would otherwise be idly having a moment of porcelain peace in a public restroom.

*shudder*

[bob sakamano @ Nov 13th 2008 2:32PM]

might as well buy the EEE PC and turn it on on your end table

http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/12/the-280-eee-pc-900a-another-thing-to-make-a-dead-president-smi/

PS. i am really embarrassed to say that the way i looked up the article was typing http://www.engadget.com/tag/eeepc ... in another words i am beginning to learn the engadget URLS... i need a new job

[Tom Gabriele @ Nov 13th 2008 7:57PM]

i dont mean to be a big ol downer, but i just wanted to share my opinion.

last i checked, you could buy a whole computer (bigger screen included), whole laptop, or even like a 22" lcd for the asking price of this frame. i dont understand it. anybody care to speak up from the digital photo frame target audience? am i missing the redeeming features? it is just extra $$ for simplicity, like the iphone?

[ThomD @ Nov 14th 2008 12:06PM]

You can buy an 8" touch screen laptop for under $239? Where? Heck, it isn't like you are going to find too many new laptops without a touch screen at that price. So, honestly, we are not talking a big premium for a turn key experience. I'm talking about screens in general, I have no idea if this one is any good.

[Robbert @ Nov 14th 2008 12:37PM]

'Heikwan Cheng @ Nov 13th 2008 3:38PM

If you want it really bad, I can do it for you.'

Love that Chinese approach. ;-) Can you make it so I can monitor the tyre pressure of my car as well?

[J@ck @ Nov 14th 2008 8:40PM]

hmm. sounds american to me.... shouldn't they build something that customers want?

[RONBEN_technology @ Nov 14th 2008 10:15PM]

This wifi digital photo picture frame has the same function with igala while email account compatibility is optional.

http://www.ronbenmultimedia.com/product/China_10.2_inch_WiFi_digital_photo_frame_with_built-in_memory_DPF-1001W.htm

[ttelrocj @ Nov 16th 2008 8:08AM]

Sure, that may be a viable alternative - if you want to buy 500 frames!!!! (The minimum order)

[Scott Clark @ Nov 16th 2008 6:00PM]

WAIT FOR RSS!!!! It takes frames from meh to great.

Well, I am definitely an early adopter since getting my eStarling Christmas of 2006 I think. It was abysmal failure. I had bought one for parents and that one sucked too. The Wi-Fi pic rotation from Flickr was irregular, the frame crashed, and the screen had a blue tone.

The second one was pretty good - but the screen is 10" making it nothing more than a conversation piece - and people tended to gather around it at parties. But it also failed - and after some haggling eStarling replaced it. But I've not even bothered to get the replacement out of the box - shows how frustrating the experience was. My goal was to set up auto-refreshing frame for my parents - and post images to Flickr so they could see their grandkids when they walk by the frame.

http://www.sitecreations.com/blog/2007/11/new-estarling-frame-did-it-measure-up.html

Well, I hope this one does the trick. I'll pick one up if it gets new reviews and gets RSS support. I also love the idea of aiming the frame at a specific flickr search to match the mood. E.g. Fall Leaves and just let it spin through the 20k+ images on Flickr people have uploaded.

This technology is developing far slower than I ever imagined.

[donno @ Nov 17th 2008 10:07AM]

You can do generic RSS setup on this frame via the Windows Live FrameIt service (http://frameit.live.com).

The frame has 1GB on board flash memory, which holds upto 3k images, not 20k+.

[Karen Diro @ Nov 26th 2008 12:58AM]

I don't think the online store is sketchy at all. I know the founder of this company personally, and can vouch that he is one of the most trust-worthy individuals I've ever dealt business with. Great job on this frame! I'm ordering several for my own family as Christmas gifts.

[jjd @ Dec 9th 2008 1:44PM]

Has anyone actually played with one of these? I find the online store sketchy in the sense that there is no list of specifications, or protocols, or "system requirements".

They have a forum, but basically no one has posted on it so you can't tell if it is really real.

I can find no real review of the unit on the net nor any other supplier beyond igala themselves.

If you have one of these or have played with it, please post something here saying what it's like.

Thanks,

--Jim--

[yk @ Dec 28th 2008 5:44PM]

There are lots of postings now and is being sold by ThinkGeek.com as well. It got to be real.

[maruko @ Feb 6th 2009 11:42PM]

Is this frame capable of automatically rotating the portrait / landscape photos, and resizing those pictures that are not 4:3? And does it have a light/motion sensor to automatically shut off the frame?

[RONBEN_technology @ Feb 11th 2009 9:47AM]

What makes this frame so attractive, touch control or wifi connectivity? if it is the real usability of touch control, consider this 7" touch screen digital frame from China:

http://www.ronbenmultimedia.com/news/7-touchscreen-digital-photo-frame-cheertek-TFT-LCD-800-480.htm