| Functionality |
Software Used |
| Should download pictures automatically from a web sharing site, I also wanted it such that if you add a new picture to your web sharing site, only the new pictures should be downloaded to the picture frame so you're not downloading all the pictures over and over again tying up your network bandwidth. |
AutoDownloadr with FlickR fit the bill for this perfectly. FlickR is also free so there is no monthly fee. |
| Should be able to plug in a memory card and the pictures should then copy automatically without the need for a keyboard or mouse. |
It took me forever to find this program called Transferer and its perfect for this. |
| Once new pictures have been added either from FlickR, the memory card, or copied from your home network, the slideshow should re-start automatically and show the new pictures without the need for a re-boot. |
I wrote a small front end software that runs in the background and will automatically re-start the slideshow when new pictures are added. The software is written in WinBatch and the source code is here. Copy fotobox.exe and picframe.ini to the root of your c:\ drive. Also add fotobox.exe to your startup folder so it starts up automatically. Vallen Jpegger is the picture viewing software used. |
| Should be able to configure the slide show interval. |
Edit picframe.ini and change the SlideShowModeOnStartUpInterval=5000 line, the default is 5s. Note its in ms to if you want the delay to be 30 seconds, then change to 30000. |
| Should be able to remote control the picture frame from a web browser. |
TightVNC works great. |
| Should have the ability to stay on one picture. |
To do this, just have one picture in the c:\pics directory and you're done. |
| Should be able to push a button to turn on and turn off the picture frame without the need for a keyboard and mouse |
As long as your laptop is ACPI, just solder a momentary switch to the on/off switch on the motherboard. |
| fotobox.exe will check for new pictures from FlickR on start-up. If you also want to check for new FlickR pictures after start-up say every hour, then download flickr.exe and then set it to run at the desired interval using windows task manager. |
Download and copy flickr.exe to the root of your c:\ drive and then set it up in task manager. |
| Features on the To Do List |
Voice recognition. I'd like to be able to use a voice recognition command to pause the slideshow and then re-start it on demand. I think this is a better way to go than a remote control because remotes always get lost and people have too many of them already. |
| Would like have it such that if you delete a picture from your FlickR set, that picture should also automatically be deleted from your picture frame. |
