Aura Introduces A $499 E-ink Digital Photo Frame That Lets You Go Cordless

Aura is introducing its newest model, nan $499 Ink frame, which brings a 13-inch colour e-paper show to nan company’s otherwise LCD-based lineup. The technology, akin to that recovered successful nan Kindle Colorsoft e-reader, uses a six-color ink strategy to create nan illusion of millions of tones. More importantly, utilizing e-ink exertion allows nan framework to yet spell cordless.

That makes it perfect for hanging successful your location successful places wherever a corded show whitethorn look bad, for illustration a surviving room wall, stairwell, aliases anyplace other a cord would ruin nan aesthetic.

The company, founded by early Twitter employees, has wanted to activity pinch e-ink exertion for immoderate time, but it wasn’t yet up to nan task of sharing colorful photos taken connected your smartphone. But arsenic e-ink systems person advanced, Aura has changed its mind.

The caller framework uses Spectra 6 exertion that delivers six superior colors — white, black, red, yellow, green, and bluish — pinch amended saturation and contrast, making it much adept astatine displaying photos.

Image Credits:Aura

In addition, Aura added a beforehand ray to nan frame, taking a cue from nan Kindle Paperwhite. This helps amended nan contrast, notes Eric Jensen, Aura co-founder and CTO.

“It’s a very subtle ray compared to an LCD. It’s possibly a sixth of nan brightness of an LCD,” he told TechCrunch successful an interview. “People often don’t moreover announcement it has a ray until they’re successful a acheronian room and it turns off,” Jensen adds.

On apical of nan Spectra 6 technology, Aura built its ain proprietary dithering algorithm, which uses correction diffusion.

“We had to spell backmost to nan ancient dithering algorithms from for illustration newspaper technology, wherever you had to fig retired really to blend these dots to simulate different colors,” Jensen says.

A closeup of Aura’s E-ink rendering systemImage Credits:Aura

Though nan e-ink exertion intends you tin spell cordless, nan framework still does request a recharge astatine times, which intends you’d person to return it down from clip to clip to powerfulness it up. However, Aura claims nan framework tin get up to 3 months of artillery life, truthful this isn’t a immense inconvenience.

To trim its powerfulness needs, nan Ink uses mobility and sensors to move disconnected nan ray erstwhile nary 1 is around. In nan accompanying mobile app, customers tin besides take to configure their ain on/off schedule, if they prefer.

Like different Aura frames, nan Ink has an upgraded look and consciousness pinch a graphite-inspired bezel, paper-textured mat, and solid front, making it look much for illustration a accepted photograph framework than inexpensive tech bought online. (As good arsenic it should, fixed nan price.)

Image Credits:Aura

The framework itself is 13.3. inches pinch a 1600 x 1200 solution and 4:3 facet ratio. The container includes wall-mounting hardware, stand, and charging cord. Aura says nan framework tin beryllium utilized successful either image aliases scenery mode and, including some nan show and frame, nan Ink measures 14.1″ x 11.4″ x 0.6″.

The framework besides includes a USB-C port, position light, and fastener controls for moving betwixt your photos. If you don’t want to manually set nan photos, you tin trust connected nan framework updating to nan latest photograph successful your preconfigured rotation overnight.

In tests, nan framework delivered a much muted colour than nan existing Aura frames, but this besides made it fresh successful amended adjacent to nan printed photos connected nan wall. Depending connected nan image, it whitethorn not moreover beryllium instantly evident to guests that it’s an e-ink framework from a distance. (We person not had nan framework agelong capable to study connected artillery life astatine this time)

One point that whitethorn propulsion you disconnected astatine first is nan photo-loading experience. It causes nan surface to flash repeatedly, successful a yellow-ish light, which tin beryllium off-putting. But Jensen says nan framework updates its photos overnight, truthful customers don’t person to spot this transition.

“The modulation is simply a small jarring. It’s decidedly a trade-off pinch this technology,” he admits. “You tin set it up to 12 times a day, if you want, but that has a trade-off pinch artillery life. The much times it changes, nan much artillery it uses, obviously.”

The institution believes that customers whitethorn extremity up being much selective astir nan number of photos they adhd to nan frame, arsenic a result. Perhaps they’ll only adhd a azygous photograph they want to ever display, past alteration it retired erstwhile they’re fresh for a caller one.

Aura successful 2022 raised $26 cardinal aft reaching 1 cardinal frames sold and an app utilized by 3 cardinal users. (Families often usage nan app together, for instance, to adhd caller photos to a framework talented to nan grandparents.) Today, nan institution has sold “double-digit millions” of frames and is profitable. Its app has seen a cardinal photos shared to date, arsenic well.

Though nan founders, Jensen and CEO Abdur Chowdhury hail from nan earlier days of Twitter, Aura’s attraction is now much connected nan backstage societal networks built betwixt friends and family who usage Aura’s app and devices to stock photos.

“We deliberation that this abstraction of sharing — not conscionable photos, but connecting pinch loved ones — is really underserved. It’s evidently poorly monetized by ads,” Jensen says. “The matrimony of a hardware instrumentality and that abstraction really useful good arsenic a business,” he adds.

The institution still considers itself a startup, arsenic it’s continuing to create caller products and contemplate updates to nan Aura app that could grow beyond framework management.

“We’ve done a batch of prototyping astir package that’s not conscionable tied to frames,” he notes. However, nan institution worries that focusing connected a backstage photograph web connected its ain whitethorn not beryllium arsenic bully a business.

“We waste a hardware merchandise that has a very straightforward worth proposition: nary subscription, unlimited photos. That useful really good pinch nan backstage photograph network. And we’ve seen a batch of companies effort nan backstage photograph web connected its ain successful nan past and not being capable to find a business exemplary for it,” Jensen says.

The Ink framework is connected waste starting today on Aura’s website.