Digital photo frames are among the hottest gadgets to own nowadays, and for this reason a very large number of companies have decided to "give a go" to this particular market segment. However, constant innovation is the only thing that will push these product forward, and that's exactly what the Pandigital company is doing with the new PanTouch digital photo frames, whose screens are used not only for displaying images, but for control purposes as well.

According to the company's own statement, the cornerstone of the new PanTouch line of frames is exactly this user-friendly, touch-operation, which sports clear, convenient icons on the screen that direct customers where to touch and swipe on the surrounding matte. Plus, the touch-operation matting resists fingerprints in the viewable area, so the main function of the photo frame won't be affected in any visible way.

Pandigital's new PanTouch line is comprised of three models that all tout advanced multimedia features and innovative extras. First of all, there's a 7-inch version, which delivers a 482x234 pixels resolution, a 15:9 aspect ratio, as well as 128MB of built-in memory. Next in line comes the 8-inch flavor, which delivers a 800x680 pixels resolution as well as a 4:3 aspect ratio, which means that the images won't be cropped or distorted.

The last model in the series is the 10.4-inch version, which, according to the company, delivers 1024x768 true HD resolution, 512MB of built-in memory and 4:3 true photo aspect ratio.

Since we've talked about extras earlier, it's interesting to note that the frames are running proprietary software that optimizes the image resolution of photos copied onto the internal memory, so more photos can be stored on a frame while maintaining excellent image quality. Furthermore, Pandigital's new PanTouch line of frames are WiFi and Bluetooth-compatible, so consumers can simply insert their WiFi or Bluetooth adapter into the USB 2.0 port, then download photos to the frame via a WiFi connection from various photo-sharing sites or from a Bluetooth-enabled portable devices (such as a PDA).

"Our goal in designing the new PanTouch line of frames was to make them so simple to use that the consumer would never have to refer to a user manual," said Dean Finnegan, CEO and founder, Pandigital. "The new PanTouch user interface is incredibly intuitive and user-friendly. It's the perfect complement to the frame's sophisticated, upscale look, incredible image quality and popular extra features such as ample internal memory, multimedia support and WiFi compatibility."

All of the three devices from Pandigital will hit the stores in May at some surprisingly affordable price tags, the 7-inch model having an estimated retail price of around 120 US dollars, the 8-inch version selling for around 170 US dollars, while the 10.4-inch model will be available for 250 US dollars.

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