iHome will soon be launching the Smartshare Frame (iPF1032), a Wi-Fi-enabled photo frame, which is a perfect holiday gift for almost anyone.
The digital photo frame is an easy way to display all those cellphone photos we all continue to snap but don’t share with more than one or two people. With the AC-powered Smartshare frame connected to your home 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi, whoever is given access from anywhere in the world can upload their favorite photos or videos and memories for display on the 10-inch LCD touchscreen display.
While this is an advanced piece of technology, setup is easy. Once the frame is powered on, it walks you through the configuration, which includes connecting to the internet and adding friend or family access with a secure password.
Images are added with the free Frameo app (iOS and Android), or you can directly connect with the micro-USB or microSD slots on the back of the frame. While the upload is great for smartphones and such, having the direct uploads with the ports allows you to add older photos stored on hard drives without without the need to upload them.
Of course, there’s a limit to how many images can be stored on the frame, but with 32GB of onboard memory, it will be challenging to hit that number. But if you do, images can be removed.
Other features in the settings allow complete control, including adjustments, notifications, hiding photos, fitting them to the frame size, and adding or deleting access. Images are shown on the eye-catching display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, which produces a sharp, vivid look.
The Smartshare Frame can be display content in landscape or portrait orientations. You can upload up to 10 images simultaneously, and the slideshow speed is adjustable. The frame accepts the popular file formats of JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and MP4.
After users post content, recipients can send reactions to the sender. Settings also control brightness, contrast and a programmable sleep mode.
Since the 11.47-by-8.23-by-1.18-inch frame is AC-powered, an outlet location has to be considered when choosing a viewing spot, but that shouldn’t be an issue. A frame stand for flat surfaces, an instruction sheet, and a power adapter are included. The Smartshare Frame can be mounted on a wall.
The Smartshare Frame is available with black, oak, and walnut frame finishes.
Another new iHome product coming soon, the Sweet Dream (iZBT50) sound and light soother with a cry sensor, is designed to help a baby fall asleep faster. And just as important, it will assist in keeping the baby asleep by masking distracting noises.
The Sweet Dream lets you plan the sleeping with two schedule modes combining lights and sounds. The six light modes include wake, rest with a red light, glow with a rainbow spectrum slow fade, one color of your choice, sunlight with a gradual waking glow, and the candle mode, which has an ambient flicker.
There’s no app; an integrated display shows the programs scheduled, and an included remote controls the settings.
A company representative warned me that this worked so well, it put her to sleep during a personal test. But with no baby to assist in a test, I went to the bullpen and had my wife, a sleeping machine, give it a try.
The sounds were all that were needed, and after a short time, she was sound asleep with white noise programmed for just a half-hour. There were 14 choices of what iHome describes as soothing sounds, including four naturally recorded environmental white noises, four lullabies and six white noises designed to soothe infants (and adults) to induce sleep.
Other features of the 5-by-5-by-4.57-inch sound and light soother include Bluetooth for streaming music playlists and syncing the clock time with an iPhone’s time, a night light and reading light with six modes, and brightness control. You can choose the color for what to wake to at a specific wake-up time.
A toddler lock prevents wandering and unwanted hands from changing the programs and settings. Parents will love the cry-sensor technology, which, when needed, activates a shush sound to help calm the crying baby.
www.ihomeaudio.com
