iPod Dock Gets Screen

There have been some unusual combinations of tech in the name of convergence, and a lot of them seem to want to hold the coat-tails of the iPod in order to make their fortune.  Some are pretty ridiculous – I'm looking at you, iCarta iPod Dock/Toilet Roll Holder – and some make a little more sense, like this combined digital photo frame and iPod dock by Matsunichi. 

The iPF7 has a 7-inch widescreen and integrated two-way speakers.  Using the iPod's hard-drive to store media, you browse music and video through the normal interface.  Outputs for a larger display or external speakers are provided, and it recharges the iPod while you use it.

A rather miserly 128mb of internal memory can store a limited selection of favourite tracks or images, although this can be expanded using SD, CF, xD, MS or MMC memory card formats.  There's also a useful USB host port to hook up a flash memory key or external hard-drive.

Digital clock, calendar and alarm, together with a handy remote control, round out the package.  There's no indication of price or availability.

Matsunichi to present 7-inch digital frame ´iPF7` with iPod docking station [AVING]