HP DreamScreen: Next Generation of Digital Frames?

HP is trying to place smart screens around the home to display social media, weather information and internet radio streams. The HP DreamScreen, announced on Thursday, can display the web content without the need of hooking up a PC using its built-in wireless capabilities. You can also view photo slideshows and watch videos.

“What we’re really trying to do is bring a simple, user-intuitive device that’s always on, always connected to the Internet, to bring Web applications that don’t require PCs,” said Ameer Karim, director of worldwide marketing with HP’s futures and innovations group.

HP DreamScreen comes in two models, the 100 for $249 and the 130 for $299. The 100 has a 10.2-inch screen; the 130 has a 13.3-inch screen. They come with stands and are ready for wall mounting out of the box. Both come in black color and a widescreen display. It features 802.11 b or 802.11g wireless capabilities. Both DreamScreen models have 2 GB of built-in memory and two USB 2.0 ports. They also have two memory card slots, which support all the common flash memory formats.

The DreamScreen models come with a remote control and touch controls. A built-in clock can show time in digital or analog format with dual time zones. Users can choose their alarm tones or music. Streaming music is available through Pandora and HP SmartRadio, a service that aggregates live Internet broadcasts with about 15,000 global radio stations.

The HP DreamScreen works with the Windows Media Player. It comes with a built-in speakers, headphone jack and connections to hookup external speakers.

“Users can only get the apps that come preloaded — HP SmartRadio, Pandora, Facebook, Snapfish, the weather service and local playback capabilities for music, videos, photos, and the built-in clock and calendar,” HP’s Karim said. “Weather reports are provided by WeatherBug.com.” HP is looking into adding more partners to provide services for the DreamScreens.

Other companies are also experimenting with new ways to access the Internet in the home. And you can expect the similar versions of Dreamscreens coming out soon.