Skip to main content

Joy is a $500 tablet that’s a curated digital frame for your photos

We prize our smartphone cameras and share photos to social networks daily, but there’s something about holding a physical photo or album you just can’t replace. That’s what Alan Chan finds lacking in today’s digital world, but he has a solution: a tablet.

It’s not an iPad or an Android tablet — no, Joy is a one-trick pony that displays your photos not unlike the former app Storehouse. It’s a 13.3-inch HD touchscreen tablet that runs a proprietary operating system based on Android. It’s meant to sit on its wireless charger in your home as a digital frame for your photos, but you can easily pick it up to jump into all your curated albums.

Recommended Videos

Most of the work is done via the Joy app for iOS and Android. It pulls images, GIFs, videos and more from your camera gallery, and you decide what shows up on the tablet. The app lets you curate albums with descriptions and text, and you can share them with other Joy users so they can use their tablet for viewing.

“We want Joy to be the final cut, the final edit … like your wedding album — we don’t want every single photo your photographer took at your wedding,” Chan tells Digital Trends.

When on the stand, Joy shows a reel of photos from various albums — like most digital frames. It also lets you hop on a call, done via Wi-Fi, with another Joy user — your screen will be shared, so you can talk to folks on the other end while showing off your album photos.

All of these photos are automatically backed up on Joy’s cloud, of which you get 10GB to use — there are more storage options available, but you’ll have to cough up some extra dough.

The tablet has a five-hour battery life, and it looks somewhat like Google’s Nexus 9 except its back slants out into the middle for better ergonomics.

Unfortunately, what may kill Joy is its price. While the app, which will be available early 2017, is free, the tablet will retail for $500. You can buy a lot of tech at that price points, so for many it will not seem worth it. For what it’s worth, you can get Joy for $300 if you pre-order it.

The device will begin shipping in the summer of 2017, but it’s available for pre-order now.

Julian Chokkattu
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…
Early Black Friday chest freezer deals: up to 40% off today
The Insignia 7-cubic feet chest freezer placed in a garage.

Update 10/29/24: This starts our Black Friday coverage of chest freezers, and we like what we see so far. The following deals are from a variety of good brands, show a wide range of prices, and most importantly come in various sizes, so you can pick what is right for your home.

While Black Friday officially starts on November 29, retailers are getting started early this year. That means great early Black Friday deals, including on things like chest freezers. Here, we search high and low for the best deals on chest freezers to hit the market. That means we're looking at sources like Walmart's, Amazon's, and Best Buy's early Black Friday deals among others to get you the best deals possible. Whether you're wanting to store ice cream, meat, or a party's worth of frozen pizza, these are the best chest freezers for you.
Hisense 5 cu. ft. Garage Ready Chest Freezer — $165 $189 13% off

Read more
Best cordless drill early Black Friday deals: DeWalt and more
A DeWalt drill being used.

Update 10/28/24: This marks the beginning of our drill coverage for 2024's Black Friday shopping season, and all of the major brands have at least one great deal. While we're excited for what is to come, this is a fantastic start and there's really no reason to not go ahead and get prepped by buying something now.
If you're buying anything this Black Friday, there's a big chance you might want a drill/driver to go with it. A drill/driver is one part drill, one part (screw)driver and it can help out in many situations. For example, say you take part in one of these early Black Friday TV deals, you very well might want to wall mount it. Then, say you grab up an easy coffee maker from Keurig's early Black Friday deals. An extra side table in your study would sure go nice with that and a drill/driver could very well make the table's construction much easier.
Really, with so so many of your early Black Friday purchases, there might be a chance to pick up a cordless drill or driver and get to work. As such, we've compiled a list of the best cordless drill deals throughout Black Friday deals that are available now, so you can get a head start on prepping for the savings that are to come.

Skil Pwr Core 12 Drill/Driver — $50 $59 15% off

Read more
Best Roomba deals: Top robot vacuums from as little as $170
iRobot Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum.

If you come home and don't really look forward to doing the day-to-day dusting and vacuuming that's required to keep everything clean, then robot vacuums are a great solution. Probably one of the best-known brands is Roomba, and if you're looking to pick up a new one, then Roomba has a lot of great options you can pick from.. Whether you're looking for a budget-friendly option or something a little bit more high-end that comes with a self-emptying station, we've gone out and collected some of our favorite Roomba deals below.

That said, if you don't necessarily want a Roomba, you can check out these general robot vacuum deals, and for the more substantial messes, there are always these vacuum deals and cordless vacuum deals too.
iRobot Roomba i1 -- $170 $220 22% off

Read more