Nikon NF300i uses Android to frame your snaps -- in 3D!

In today's slightly bonkers gadget news, Nikon has unveiled the NF300i, a digital photo frame powered by Android that turns your photos into a 3D extravaganza -- and all without the aid of funny glasses.

The frankly rather ugly 7.2-inch digital frame boasts a double-density lenticular screen with 800x600-pixel resolution. It works in 2D mode or displays your 2D photos in 3D, after they're converted in the cloud by Nikon's online photo storage service.

The NF300i packs 4GB of internal memory, alongside a USB socket, and Ethernet and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi to show pictures from the Web.

The NF300i is powered by Google's mobile operating system Android 2.1. Owners of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and other phones stuck with older versions of Android will be overjoyed to hear there are photo frames with more advanced software. Handy Andy options in the frame include a clock, calendar, Web browser and weather forecast. With its Android extras, the NF300i adds an extra dimension to kitchen worktop planners such as the O2 Joggler and Sony Dash.

We're not convinced by glasses-free 3D, even if manufacturers like Toshiba are. Fujifilm was first into the game in the current round of 3D-mania with its FinePix Real 3D W1 and W3. You can view your snaps in 3D without glasses on the camera's lenticular screen, or on Fuji's 3D photo frame. New Sony cameras including the NEX-5 and Alpha SLT-A55 also capture widescreen 3D landscape shots with their 3D sweep panorama feature, but they can only be viewed on Sony's 3D tellies, such as the Bravia HX903.

As if all this isn't odd enough, you can't buy the NF300i -- and not just because it's only available in Japan. Nikon is renting the frame to 3D fans as part of a subscription to a new 3D conversion option within its My PictureTown online photo-storage service. Your normal JPEGs and videos are uploaded to the service, converted to 3D and sent to the frame for three-dimensional enjoyment. My PictureTown 3D launches in December and will cost our technologically superior Japanese chums ¥1,995 (£15) per month.