It’s clear that I’m not a fan of the current generation of digital picture frames.  Many of them are ugly, scale pictures to an incorrect aspect ratio, and don’t effectively replace their traditional counterparts.  This, coupled with the general economic climate of the world, has contributed to the sharp decline in their demand.

Motorola, coming off the heals of its wildly publicized DROID smartphone release, has announced a series of digital picture frames that it hopes the consumer won’t overlook this holiday season.  This “LS” line of frames, ranging in size from 4.2″ to 10.4″, all possess pretty standard features, including slideshow and MP3 playback.  Fortunately, a few models in the product lineup, which ranges in price from $55 to $330, have unique features worth mentioning.

LS420D

The LS420D and LS720D models boast dual screens capable of simultaneously displaying different photos from the same memory card.  If desired, the user can assign one of the screens to display a clock or calender.  While the 234×202 pixel LCD panels won’t truly capture the high resolution detail produced by today’s digital cameras, some may find the novelty of dual screens an exciting feature.

LS1000W

The flagship LS1000W model features a 10.4″ screen with 800×600 resolution and WiFi compatibility, allowing it to display pictures emailed to it or downloaded from Internet sites worldwide.  Supporting the FrameChannel content delivery network, the LS1000W can display thousands of informational feeds.  It has a built in alarm clock, speaker, and is controllable via an IR remote.

Although this line is initially being released in the UK, it really doesn’t represent much forward progress in the design of consumer grade digital picture frames.  The widescreen aspect ratio of the LCDs used in these frames don’t jive well with the proportions of standard digital pictures.  And at $330, the LS1000W seems far overpriced for its feature set.