Amazon Launches Alexa Photo Frame with Voice Notes and Smart Curation

Image: Amazon’s first digital picture frame lets you add voice notes to photos · Source

Amazon introduces the Alexa Photo Frame, a 10-inch digital picture frame with Alexa Plus integration that offers voice notes on photos and smart curation based on seasons and smiles, available now starting at $199.99.

Amazon has unveiled its first dedicated digital picture frame, the Alexa Photo Frame, designed specifically to showcase family photos with enhanced smart features. Unlike Amazon’s Echo Show and other smart home hubs, which can display photos alongside other content and advertisements, the Alexa Photo Frame solely focuses on displaying photos without any ads. It is intended to compete with existing digital frames like those from Aura, integrating Amazon’s Alexa Plus capabilities via voice commands.

The frame features a 10-inch touchscreen with a semi-matte, anti-glare finish, simulating the look of printed photos. A built-in light sensor automatically adjusts the display brightness throughout the day. It comes with a detachable stand and volume controls and a microphone mute button discreetly placed on its edge. Buyers can choose between a basic black model for $199.99 or upgrade to a birch or walnut wood frame for $229.

Users can load images onto the frame through Amazon Photos, which offers unlimited storage for Prime members, though no subscription is required to use the frame. The Amazon Photos app can back up images from Android and Apple devices and import from iCloud Photo, but currently does not support Google Photos. Photos can be selected by album or specific people, or Alexa Plus can automatically curate the display to highlight pictures where subjects are smiling or that fit the season, such as Halloween costumes in October. The system cleverly pairs similar photos side-by-side, like pictures of a child taken years apart with similar poses.

Unique to this frame is the option to add voice notes to photos through the Amazon Photos app. These notes play on the frame when viewing the related image, enhancing the storytelling aspect of photo displays. Amazon has announced that in a future update, users will be able to record voice notes directly on the frame itself. Additionally, when purchased as a gift through Amazon, photos and voice notes can be preloaded in advance for the recipient.

This new device signals Amazon’s expansion into digital photo frames with Alexa’s voice capabilities embedded, aiming to create a more interactive and personalized photo viewing experience. The Alexa Photo Frame is available now for purchase in the US.