A "retro product category" from 20 years ago has secured a million - dollar crowdfunding after integrating AI.

In March this year, the smart photo frame BLOOMIN8 launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. At that time, the author thought it was just another photo display with no real innovation. However, recently, while browsing other crowdfunding products, Kickstarter kept pushing "smart photo frame" products at the bottom, which piqued the author's curiosity. After typing "smart frame" in the search bar, the author was surprised to find that there were still many "new players" in this old market in recent years, and was also impressed by BLOOMIN8's crowdfunding results.

Search results for "smart frame"; BLOOMIN8 raised approximately 2.4 million Australian dollars (equivalent to about 1.56 million US dollars) in crowdfunding, with an early bird price of 167 US dollars | Source: Kickstarter

Among similar products, those with good crowdfunding performance usually raise around 150,000 US dollars, and most others only raise a few hundred or a few thousand dollars. However, BLOOMIN8's final crowdfunding result of nearly 1.56 million US dollars is an order of magnitude higher than other smart photo frame products. After understanding the development trajectory of the entire smart photo frame industry and BLOOMIN8's product, it can only be said that BLOOMIN8's success comes from focusing on the most essential functions of photo frames and breaking away from the "framework" of smart photo frames.

Twenty years of ups and downs for smart photo frames: "Crushed" by iPads and going astray in AI exploration

When mentioning "smart photo frames" in 2025, it seems to carry a sense of antiquity. The classic product form that comes to mind is a wide frame with a glass texture, paired with a stand at the back, and a classic family photo or a photo of a child's bright smile in the center of the screen. Looking back at the development history of "smart photo frames", it can indeed be traced back to before the millennium.

Based on two indicators that have run through the development stages of smart photo frames - the photo transmission method and the screen display technology - we can use 2010 as a dividing point and roughly divide the old - generation smart photo frames into the 1.0 era and the 2.0 era.

In the 1.0 era, the products at that time could hardly be called "smart". It was more appropriate to call them "digital photo frames". Before 2000, some manufacturers had explored the form of displaying digital photos on small electronic screens. CEIVA in the United States was a representative brand of early smart photo frames. It mainly read digital photos directly from memory cards or downloaded photos from servers through a built - in modem (which could be connected to a telephone line for dial - up Internet access). Its functions were relatively simple, mainly playing digital photos in a slide - show loop. In terms of display technology, low - resolution LCD (liquid crystal display) was commonly used, with average color performance, and problems such as backlight glow, limited viewing angles, and high power consumption.

CEIVA digital photo frame | Source: CEIVA official website

Later, transmission technologies such as Bluetooth and email emerged, and major hardware manufacturers such as Sony and Samsung also joined the market, which reduced the geographical restrictions on photo transmission. In terms of photo display, LCD screens were still mainly used, but the resolution and color performance improved, with the emergence of HD, FHD, and even 4K. Some brands also added functions such as checking the weather and listening to music, and the selling price also increased to 100 - 300 US dollars.

The numbers represent the number of pixels. HD (High Definition) means 720p, and FHD (Full High Definition) means 1080p. The formulas under different resolutions represent the number of pixels in the horizontal direction * the number of pixels in the vertical direction

The turning point came in 2010 when Apple released the iPad. With the same large screen and a similar transmission method, the iPad not only included the picture - display function of smart photo frames but also supported other functions such as shooting and entertainment. It had a significant impact on the photo frame products of the 1.0 era. According to Statista data, from 2013 to 2015, the average price of digital photo frames in the United States dropped from 34 US dollars to 25 US dollars, and the wholesale sales volume also decreased from about 5 million units to 2 million units.

However, this dilemma also prompted photo frame products to enter the 2.0 era and start the process of intelligentization.

First, in terms of transmission methods, wireless WIFI and Bluetooth transmission became more common, and cloud photo libraries and App transmission began to appear after 2015. In terms of display technology, high - definition IPS, OLED, and other screens with better effects began to be used. Some products started to focus on optimizing screen brightness, contrast, and multi - angle photo presentation.

Note: IPS stands for In - Plane Switching. IPS technology optimizes the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules in a horizontal manner. When under external pressure, the molecular structure slightly sinks downward, making the LCD screen respond faster and more stably, better avoiding image distortion and preserving the original colors of the image.

OLED stands for Organic Light - Emitting Diode, also known as organic light - emitting semiconductor. It has the characteristic of self - luminescence. When an electric current passes through, it will emit light. It not only has a larger viewing angle, is thinner and more flexible, but also consumes less power because it doesn't need an LED backlight.

Meanwhile, with the development of the Internet, smart photo frames in the 2.0 era began to expand functions beyond picture display. Typically, brands like Frameo from Denmark and Aura from the United States launched smart photo frame products around 2016. These products allowed users to upload pictures through a supporting App and enabled multiple users to associate with the same photo frame, supporting joint updates. This means that smart photo frames began to have a "social" attribute. According to public reports, from 2019 to 2021, the number of Aura users increased by an average of 1 million per year, and it received 26 million US dollars in financing in 2022. This was also a small peak in the development of smart photo frames.

The photo frames and Apps of Frameo and Aura. The price of Frameo products is around 150 US dollars, and Aura is positioned relatively high - end, with a price range of 300 - 500 US dollars. | Source: Frameo and Aura official websites

Nearly five years of "bloated" design exploration: comprehensive functions but a bit off - track

Looking closer, we can see from Kickstarter that there have still been many smart photo frame products since 2020, and overseas - oriented teams have become the main force.

All products except Loop2 are overseas - oriented products. The iFramix Pro hardware itself does not have a display screen. | Compiled from Kickstarter information

In recent years, the increasingly mature cloud technology and users' habit of using synchronization functions have made App and cloud transmission the standard for smart photo frames. However, there have been significant changes in display technology. Some products have started to try E - Ink displays (Electronic Ink, often called electronic paper or e - ink screen, with the Kindle being a representative example). Compared with traditional LCD screens, E - Ink had relatively weak color performance in the early stage, but it had the advantages of low energy consumption, comfortable viewing experience, clear image presentation from different angles, and no reflection.

Note: The display principle of E - Ink is different from that of traditional LCD or OLED screens. Its core is a material that combines chemistry, physics, and electronics, called "electronic ink". It consists of millions of tiny micro - capsules, and inside each capsule, there are suspended colored (usually black and white) particles with different charges. The material itself does not emit light but displays images by reflecting ambient light. Therefore, compared with other display technologies, electronic ink has better reflectivity and contrast.

Comparison between LCD screens and E - Ink screens

The exploration of social functions in the previous generation of smart photo frames also provided reference ideas for later products. Among them, Loop 2 emphasized the "family connection" by allowing family members to like and comment on each other's photos, further enhancing the social attribute, and became one of the few new - generation smart photo frame projects that raised over 10,000 US dollars in crowdfunding. Another product, iFramix Pro, took a different approach and raised 170,000 US dollars in crowdfunding with a "transformed" smart photo frame product.

Crowdfunding situation of iFramix (left) and iFramix Pro (right). The unit price of both products is about 70 US dollars. The first - generation product iFramix ended its crowdfunding with 350,000 US dollars in July 2023. The two products have similar functions | Source: Kickstarter

iFramix Pro is actually a product that transforms idle iPads into smart photo frames through iCharguard (which can monitor the battery in real - time and control the charging status). The photo frame is just the final form of the product, and in essence, it still relies on the App to control the iPad to achieve specific functions. This crowdfunding result may not be outstanding, but its idea of designing products from the perspective of reusing old items is worth referring to. Firstly, it addresses the pain point of users who have difficulty dealing with old iPads during product upgrades. Secondly, it creates an experience for users to add value to their products through a low - cost device. This may also be the reason why iFramix can still attract many customers with two similar products launched in a short period.

The official promotion claims that iFramix Pro can make an old iPad worth 500 US dollars again (top); The AI function can analyze the photo style and then automatically match the text (bottom) | Source: Kickstarter

In addition, following the AI trend, smart photo frames are also integrating AI technology into their functions, which are mostly used in schedule arrangement and summary reminders. However, when looking through the function list, we can find that the products have more and more functions, but there is no obvious improvement in the crowdfunding results. On closer inspection, it is not difficult to find that many of these functions (such as audio/video playback, schedule management, and even adding lighting effects) are not necessarily wise "additions". In users' lives, these functions are already supported by hardware such as smart speakers and large - screen devices. As a photo frame, its main function is to carry users' memories of certain beautiful moments.

Raising 1.5 million US dollars, adding AI, and entering "another track"

When we focus on BLOOMIN8, we can find that its main changes are centered around the main function of image presentation, which is the essence of an electronic photo frame - display.

First, in terms of display technology, BLOOMIN8 uses the latest E - Ink Spectra 6. Traditional e - ink screens mostly have two color particles, black and white, while Spectra 6 contains six color particles (red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white). While maintaining the original low power consumption and paper - like viewing experience, it can build a wider color gamut, provide higher color saturation and contrast, and improve the image presentation effect.

Note: Since there is usually a time interval between the end of a Kickstarter product's crowdfunding campaign and its official shipment, E - Ink has released a new T2000 chip, which can further optimize the picture - display effect of Spectra 6. Many crowdfunding supporters left messages in the comment section, hoping that BLOOMIN8 could further optimize the display when officially shipping the product.

Thanks to the low - power consumption characteristic of E - Ink display technology, according to the official promotion, BLOOMIN8 hardly consumes any power during normal display except when changing images. It can be used continuously for several years after being fully charged, and can still display the last image even after the battery is depleted. In addition, Spectra 6 supports partial image blinking effects (E - Ink Sparkle™), which can support dynamic blinking effects in some areas of the screen.

Comparison of the effects between Artink (left, 4 - color, launched in June) and BLOOMIN8 (right, Spectra 6, launched in March), both using E - Ink technology | Source: Kickstarter

In terms of transmission, in addition to supporting App transmission and allowing family members to share photo albums like most current products, considering overseas users' emphasis on privacy issues, BLOOMIN8 also supports local transmission via SD cards and custom integration with Home Assistant. This means that users can operate the device without uploading device data and can also achieve IoT operations with different devices from other brands.

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