Samsung Digital Picture Frames Get Wi-Fi

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. this week showed off a soon-to-be-released version of its digital photo frame with Wi-Fi and two larger versions that will hit markets later this year.

Samsung displayed unreleased 12-inch and 8-inch versions of the company's digital photo frames, alongside a 7-inch version of the frame that can connect with a PC over Wi-Fi. The displays were on display at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany.

The €229 (US$305) SPH-72P, which hits European markets in May, uses Wi-Fi to automatically discover and connect with PCs running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system and can display photos stored in Windows Media Player 11.

Like the €179 SPH-72H model, which does not have Wi-Fi and will hit European markets at the same time, the SPH-72P has a four-in-one memory card reader and a USB port that can connect directly to a digital camera or portable hard disk.

Both picture frames have a 7-inch screen that offers a resolution of 800 pixels by 480 pixels, and they can play MP3 files and movie clips.

The SPH-72P can also display JPEG photos downloaded by RSS (Really Simple Syndication) from Web sites, such as Windows Live Spaces. But a Samsung sales executive manning the company's booth said photo frames sold in Europe may not initially support this feature.

Samsung plans to ship the 8-inch and 12-inch versions later this year, and they could be on the market during the third quarter, the sales executive said. Detailed specifications of the larger photo frames were not available.