finally a picture frame that does a bit more and in a flexible way

SilverPac has announced a new digital frame at COMPUTEX Taipei that has a plethora of features and is built on Microsoft Windows Embedded 6.0. The SilverFrame features all of Microsoft’s software features like Windows SideShow for helpful gadgets and Windows Live FrameIt for online content consumption. From the hardware side, the digital frame features a 10.1″ touchscreen with 802.11n wireless capability.

The Windows SideShow gadgets are actually pretty interesting, no other digital picture frame has delivered on frame-based gadgets. This feature alone has the potential to give the frame much more functionality than simple slideshow playback. For instance, users will be able to connect the frame to their wireless network and use the Windows Media Player gadget to browse and play their music and video files. The email gadget allows for not only a snapshot of your inbox, but offers the ability to send mail from the digital picture frame. The SilverFrame also syncs with the calendar on your PC so appointment data is always nearby.

While the digital picture frame may not be the preferred mechanism to manage email, the promise of features like this in what’s normally a fairly static device is exciting. The gadget functionality in conjunction with the FrameIt content services, easily make this unit one of the most advanced frames soon to be on the market.

And there’s the letdown. While the SilverPac SilverFrame is on display at the Microsoft booth at COMPUTEX, it’s not yet avilable for sale. They’re trying to sell the design to a known brand, who would then market the product to consumers. So when and at what price we’ll see this frame is a bit unknown. At least though, we see the potential and hardware innovation that make advanced frame designs possible.