HP's stylish DreamScreen takes digital photo frames to next level

Depending on how you look at it, the sleek new DreamScreen is either a very powerful digital photo frame or a fairly limited Internet tablet—take your pick.

Announced early this morning and available in 10.2-inch ($249, on sale now) and 13.3-inch ($299, available in the fall) versions, the DreamScreen looks more like a touchscreen tablet than your typical digital photo frame, what with its glossy black design and snazzy, icon-driven interface. (Quick note: I haven't seen the DreamScreen in person yet, so I'm basing my initial impressions on these images and HP's how-to videos.)

But while the Wi-Fi-enabled DreamScreen—which can tap into your Facebook account, stream music from Pandora, display SnapFish photo albums, and play videos from your PC—is clearly more than your garden-variety digital photo frame, it's not quite the touchscreen Net tablet you've been dreaming of.

For one thing, the DreamScreen's display isn't touch-sensitive; instead, you navigate its menus using the included remote control or a series of capacitive navigational buttons near the bottom-right corner of the screen. Also, the DreamScreen won't let you check your e-mail, browse the Web, stream video, chat with friends, or update your Facebook status from the display itself.

That said, there's still a lot to like here, according to HP's specs and videos. You can search and stream your entire music collection (including album art) from your PC via Wi-Fi, view status updates and photo albums from your pals on Facebook, listen to customized playlists over Pandora, or check the weather. The DreamScreen also packs in 2GB of storage and a USB port, good for transferring photos and videos from your PC. There's even an HP SmartRadio app that lets you tune in to about 10,000 streaming Internet radio stations.

Not bad for a $249-$299 "connected screen," as HP is calling the device (and much cheaper than the expected $799-$999 price tag for Apple's rumored "iTablet").

Related:
HP product page