Ornament

Abstract

An ornament includes a housing, at least one display panel and at least one audio output device. The ornament further includes an electronic memory device for storing images and other media files, including audio files, and a data transfer interface for transferring images and other media files, such as audio files, from an outside data source to the electronic memory device. The ornament also includes a user interface for selecting images to be displayed on the display panel and/or sounds to be produced by the audio output device.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a continuation-in-part patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/648,162, filed on 29 Dec. 2006, which is the co-pending parent application and which is incorporated by reference herein and is made a part hereof, including but not limited to those portions which specifically appear in this patent application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention is directed to an ornament, and more specifically to a holiday ornament that can be displayed on a holiday display and which receives, stores and/or plays images, audio files, interactive media and/or other electronic media.

2. Description of Related Art

Holiday displays are often decorated with paper-type photographs, lights and various traditional ornaments. The traditional holiday ornaments that are available in the marketplace today, however, are generally not equipped to receive, store, display and/or play electronic media, such as for example music, digital photographs, digital artwork, movies, videos, animations, etc.

As such, a need arises for an ornament that can be displayed on a holiday display and which is capable to receive (e.g., from an outside data source), store, play and/or display media, such as electronic media, e.g., music, digital photographs, movies, cartoons, animations, films, interactive media, and/or other media. There is a need for an ornament that includes a user input interface for selecting the desired media to be played and/or displayed. There is a need for an ornament that can be reused as new and/or different media is uploaded thereinto and/or received thereby.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide an ornament lightweight enough to be suspended on a holiday display, e.g. from a branch of a Christmas tree.

It is another object of this invention to provide an ornament that has a decorative or otherwise desirable shape and/or color.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an ornament that displays and/or plays media, including images, music, interactive media and/or other media.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an ornament including a user interface for selecting media to be played and/or displayed.

The above and other objects of this invention can be attained with an ornament that includes a housing. A hanger may be positioned generally on the top of the housing, for attaching the ornament for display. The housing preferably generally defines the shape of the ornament. Preferably, at least a portion of the surface of the housing forms the surface of the ornament. The housing further includes an aperture and a display panel contained at least partially within the housing, such that at least a portion of the display panel corresponds with the aperture. Images selectively displayed on the display panel are preferably perceivable through the aperture. The display panel displays at least one electronic image thereon and is in operable communication with an electronic memory device which stores electronic images that are selectively displayed on the display panel. Display panel is preferably a digital display panel. The display panel is preferably attached with respect to the housing such that at least a portion of the display panel is visible and may be attached to the surface of the housing. The display panel has a convex and/or a concave curvature. The display panel preferably forms at least a portion of the surface of the ornament. The ornament of this invention may comprise a plurality of display panels.

The ornament further includes an audio output device for playing at least one audio file. The audio output device is positioned at least partially within the housing. At least one electronic audio file is playable through the audio output device.

The ornament further includes at least one user input interface in operable communication with the display panel, the audio output device and/or the electronic memory device. The user interface is preferably used to select images to be displayed on the display panel, to select audio files to be played through the audio output device and/or to activate and/or disactivate the operation of the various electronic components of the ornament of this invention.

The ornament of this invention further includes a data transfer interface in operative communication with the electronic memory device. Electronic images, electronic audio files and/or other media are uploaded or otherwise transferred into the electronic memory device from an outside data source, such as for example a computer, through the data transfer interface. The data transfer interface may be in direct operative communication with the display panel and/or the audio output device.

The ornament of this invention further includes a power supply in operative communication with the display panel, the audio output device, the user interface and/or the electronic memory device and/or other electronic components of the ornament. The power supply is an internal power supply or an external power supply.

The ornament of this invention is preferably compatible with Windows XP™, Windows Vista™ and/or Windows 2000™ operating systems, and/or other suitable operating system or systems known to those skilled in the art.

Other objects and advantages of this invention are apparent to those skilled in the art, in view of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended claims and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ornament according to one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the ornament shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a back view of the ornament shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the ornament shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the ornament shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view of the ornament shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a side view of the ornament shown in FIG. 1, showing the side opposite to the side shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8A is a side view of an ornament according to another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8B is a side view of an ornament according to yet another embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an ornament according to still another embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to an ornament, such as ornament 10 shown in FIGS. 1-7, 8A, 8B and 9, that can be displayed on a holiday display. Ornament 10 is displayable by suspending, e.g., on a Christmas tree, by placing on a surface, e.g., on a table, and/or by clipping, pinning or otherwise directly or indirectly attaching to other objects, e.g., furniture. Ornament 10 includes one or more display panels 12 for displaying at least one image 14 thereon.

As used throughout this specification, the terms “image” or “images” are intended to refer to any and all now known and/or subsequently developed electronic images, including, without limitation, still, moving and/or animated 2D and/or 3D images, such as, for example, a photograph, text, a letter, a number, a picture, a video, a movie, a film, an animation, a computer animation, a cartoon, an animated cartoon, manually and/or digitally created artwork, a computer animated film, computer graphics, an electronic computer animation, interactive media, computer generated imagery and/or any combination thereof.

Ornament 10 further includes housing 16 generally defining shape 17 of ornament 10 and at least partially enclosing an electronic memory device (not shown) which stores the at least one image 14 and/or other media, such as for example audio files. In at least one embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 further includes data transfer interface 20 for transferring the at least one image 14 and/or other media, e.g., audio data, from an outside data source into the electronic memory device. Ornament 10 further includes user interface 22 comprising at least one display panel 12 (for displaying the at least one image 14), at least one audio output device 46 (for playing audio data files and/or other sound) and/or at least one user input interface 24 (for selecting images 14 to be displayed, audio data files to be played and/or controlling the operation of any other component of ornament 10). The various electronic components of ornament 10 are preferably powered by an internal, built-in and/or external power supply (not shown).

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, ornament 10 is shown in a front view and a back view, respectively. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, ornament 10 is shown in a top view and a bottom view, respectively. Finally, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, ornament 10 is shown in two side views, showing the opposite sides of ornament 10.

Housing 16 includes outer surface 21 generally defining shape 17 of ornament 10. Although shape 17 of ornament 10 shown in FIGS. 1-7 is generally spherical, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that housing 16 may be formed in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Alternative embodiments of this invention include housings formed to resemble the shapes of stars, geometrical figures (such as for example shown in FIG. 9), animals, flowers, or other objects. Housing 16 may have any other decorative and/or desired shape. Furthermore, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that other elements or materials may be attached to or otherwise associated with housing 16 (e.g., covering at least a portion of housing 16) to enhance the aesthetic appearance of ornament 10, or otherwise. Preferably, at least a portion of outer surface 21 of housing 16 forms surface 23 of ornament 10.

Housing 16 may be made of a variety of different materials, including, but not limited to, plastics, metals, or other man-made and/or natural materials, and combinations thereof. Housing 16 is manufactured as a one piece structure. Alternatively, housing 16 is assembled from elements manufactured separately. In one preferred embodiment of this invention, as shown in FIGS. 4-7, housing 16 is assembled from two structural pieces: front housing element 25 and back housing element 27. Front housing element 25 and back housing element 27 are attached together by any method know to those skilled in the art to form housing 16. Such configuration results in juncture line 26 between front housing element 25 and back housing element 27. Juncture line 26 may be concealed by coating with paint and/or other coloring, or otherwise, substance and/or other element.

Housing 16 preferably at least partially encloses the electronic memory device, the internal or built-in power supply and/or display panel 12, and/or any part thereof, and/or any associated components.

As shown in FIGS. 1-7, in one embodiment of this invention, outer surface 21 of housing 16 is generally spherical and housing 16 includes aperture 28. At least a portion of display panel 12 preferably corresponds with aperture 28. Display panel 12 is nested at least partially within housing 16 in such a way that at least a portion of display panel 12 is perceived through aperture 28. Periphery 30 of aperture 28 corresponds with a portion of display panel 12 such that, when in place, surface 31 of display panel 12 is generally flush with surface 21 of housing 16. Alternatively, periphery 30 of aperture 28 at least partially overlays display panel 12.

In one embodiment of this invention, display panel 12 is at least partially recessed within housing 16 and/or otherwise offset from surface 21 of housing 16 and/or surface 23 of ornament 10. Offsetting display panel 12 from surface 23 of ornament 10 may prevent or diminish glare on display panel 12 from lights or other objects and thus improve the perceivability of images displayed on display panel 12. Other embodiments of this inventions, such as for example shown in FIGS. 8B and 10, include display panel 12 that is not recessed within housing 16 and/or not offset from surface 23 of ornament 10.

In one embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 includes an overlay element (not shown) covering at least a portion of display panel 12. The overlay element is preferably made of clear, or otherwise see-through, material and preferably protects display panel 12 and/or enhances peceivability of images 14 displayed on display panel 12. The outer surface of the overlay element corresponds to the general curvature of surface 23 of ornament 10 and/or surface 31 of display panel 12. Alternatively, the outer surface of the overlay element may have any other suitable or desirable curvature.

In one embodiment of this invention, shown in FIGS. 1-7, ornament 10 includes trim element 32 positioned at least partially along periphery 30 of aperture 28. As shown in FIGS. 1-7, trim element 32 preferably forms a ridge around at least a portion of display panel 12 such that at least a portion of display panel 12 is recessed from ridge edge 33 of trim element 32. Other embodiments of this invention, such as shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B and 9, do not include a trim element. Yet still other embodiments of this invention include trim elements having other suitable and/or desirable shapes, sizes and designs. For example, in one embodiment of this invention, the trim element is a generally flat strip of material positioned along at least a portion of the interface between housing and display panel. In another embodiment of this invention, the trim element may have a decorative shape and/or a decorative design complementing the overall decorative theme of the ornament of this invention.

In one embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 further includes hanger 18 positioned generally on or near top 19 of housing 16 whereby ornament 10 is suspended from an object, e.g. a branch of a Christmas tree, when in a display mode. Hanger 18 may be formed as an integral part of housing 16. Alternatively, hanger 18 may be formed as a separate component suitably attached to housing 16 by any method known to those skilled in the art. Hanger 18 may be a loop, a hook and/or any other suitable element or combination of elements suitable to attach ornament 10 to a display. Ornament 10 may be suspended on a holiday display by attaching hanger 18 directly to an element of the display. Additionally or alternatively, hanger 18 may be attached to an element of the display by an intermediate element, such as a thread or a string. Hanger 18 may be made of the same or different materials as housing 16.

In another embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 includes a pin and/or a clip for pinning and/or clipping ornament 10 to another object to display ornament 10 on such object. In yet another embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 includes stand 42 which aids in the display of ornament 10 in an upright position on a surface, e.g. a surface of a table. In one embodiment of this invention, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, stand 42 is planar surface 36. In another embodiment of this invention, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, stand 42 is a plurality of support members 44. In certain embodiments of this inventions, such as for example shown in FIG. 9, the geometry of ornament 10 is such that ornament 10 can be displayed in an upright position without the aid of a stand.

Ornament 10 includes at least one display panel 12. Display panel may be positioned at least partially within housing 16. At least a portion of surface 31 of display panel 12 may form outer surface 23 of ornament 10. In one embodiment of this invention, display panel 12 is generally flat, as shown in FIGS. 1-7. Alternatively, surface 31 of display panel 12 and/or display panel 12 itself may have a curvature corresponding to the curvature of surface 23 of ornament 10 and/or any other suitable and/or desirable curvature. For example, in one embodiment of this invention, shown in FIG. 8A, display panel 12 has a concave curvature. In another embodiment of this invention, shown in FIG. 8B, display panel 12 has a convex curvature. In yet another embodiment of this invention, such as for example shown in FIG. 9, ornament 10 has a plurality of display panels 12. Each display panel 12 of the plurality of display panels 12 may have the same or different curvature than any other display panel 12.

Display panel 12 may be any suitable display panel known to those skilled in the art and may employ any suitable digital-image-display technology. In one embodiment of this invention, display panel 12 is a 1.5-inch digital Low Temperature Poly Silicone (LTPS) panel and preferably provides high-resolution color images and/or wide viewing angles. In an alternative embodiment of this invention, the at least one display panel 12 is selected, without limitation, from a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) panel, a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED) panel, a surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) panel, a touch screen display panel, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display panel, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel and/or any combination thereof. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that any other suitable display panel, presently known or subsequently developed, can be used with the ornament of this invention.

In alternative embodiments of this invention, ornament 10 includes a plurality of display panels 12. When in an operation mode, each display panel 12 displays the same or different image 14 than any other display panel 12. Each display panel 12 employs the same or different display technology than any other display panel 12. Each display panel 12 may display multiple images 14 simultaneously. Each display panel 12 may have the same or different size, shape or configuration than any other display panel 12. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that display panel 12 may cover and/or replace any portion of surface 23 of ornament 10, or may cover and/or replace the entire surface 23 of ornament 10.

Display panel 12 and/or the electronic memory device preferably support a variety of different image formats. In one embodiment of this invention, display panel 12 and/or the electronic memory device support at least the following image formats: JPEG, BMP, PNG and/or GIF images. In alternative embodiments of this invention, display panel 12 and/or the electronic memory device support other image formats, including, without limitation, MPEG, DivX™, XviD, Adobe Flash™, Flash LITE™ and/or any combination thereof. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that display panel 12 and/or the electronic memory device may support any number of file formats, depending on the desirability of images to be displayed and/or played by ornament 10.

In one embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 includes audio storage and/or playback capabilities. The electronic memory device of ornament 10 preferably supports any of the following audio formats: MP3, AAC, WAV, formats incorporating DRM technology, Ogg, Vorbis, Theora, Speex, FLAC, ATRAC, MOD, and/or any other currently known and/or subsequently developed audio formats.

Ornament 10 further includes at least one built-in and/or external audio output device 46. In one embodiment of this invention, as shown in FIG. 9, the at least one audio output device 46 is built-in speaker 45. Audio output device 46 is preferably in operative communication with the electronic memory device, such that audio files stored in the electronic memory device are playable through audio output device 46. The audio files stored in the electronic memory device and/or sound streamed into ornament 10 by wireless means are preferably selectively playable through the at least one audio output device 46. In at least one embodiment of this invention, the sounds produced by the at least one audio output device 46 are synchronizable with images 14 that are displayed on display panel 12. For example, by manipulating user input interface 24, the user can select the desired sequence or sequences of images 14 to be displayed as well as the desired sequence or sequences of sounds to be played while each image 14 is displayed.

In one embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 further includes FM radio tuners and/or one or more microphones for voice recordings.

Display panel 12 is preferably in operative communication with the electronic memory device, such that images 14 and/or other media files stored in the electronic memory device are displayable on display panel 12 upon selection. In one embodiment of this invention, the electronic memory device is a flash memory device, e.g., 64M flash memory, or any other suitable memory device. The electronic memory device is preferably built-in and enclosed within housing 16. Alternative embodiments of this invention may include a removable electronic memory device, such as, for example, a removable memory card, e.g., a flash memory card. Yet still alternative embodiments of this invention may play and/or display images 14 and/or other media though wireless means.

Ornament 10 further includes at least one user input interface 24. The at least one user input interface 24 is positioned with respect to surface 21 of housing 16. In one embodiment, shown in FIGS. 1-7, user input interface 24 comprises a plurality of control buttons 24′, 24″ and 24′″. Alternative embodiments of this invention may include one or more control buttons and/or a control screen. Ornament 10, shown in FIG. 9, includes user input interface 24 comprising control screen 48. It is apparent to those skilled in the art that user input interface may comprise any other suitable means for activating and/or disactivating, engaging and/or disengaging or otherwise controlling and/or operating display panel 12, the electronic memory device, audio output device 46, data transfer interface 20 and/or other electronic components of ornament 10. User input interface 24 is preferably used to browse through images 14, sound files and/or other media files stored in the electronic memory device, to select images 14 to be displayed on display panel 12, to select sound files to be played, to set or change the time to be displayed on display panel 12, to set the time or timer to automatically “turn on” or “turn off” display panel 12 or audio output device 46, and/or to control and/or operate any other element or function of ornament 10.

User input interface 24 is preferably in operative communication with display panel 12 and/or the electronic memory device, such that images 14 which are stored in the electronic memory device are selectively displayable on display panel 12. User input interface 24 is preferably in operative communication with audio output device 46 and/or the electronic memory device, such that selected audio files which are stored in the electronic memory device are selectively playable through audio output device 46.

Ornament 10 of this invention further includes an automatic “turn on” and/or “turn off” feature. User interface 24 is operable to preselect a time to autoactivate and/or autodisactivate display panel 12, audio output device 46 and/or any other component of ornament 10. Display panel 12, audio output device 46 and/or other component of ornament 10 may be preset to automatically “turn off” (i.e., autodisactivate) or automatically “turn on” (i.e., autoactivate) on a selected date and/or at a selected time of day, e.g., at 2:15 PM, or after expiration of a selected time interval, e.g., after 30 minutes. The time, date and/or the time interval may be viewable on display panel 12 and/or control screen 48.

In one embodiment of this invention, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, ornament 10 includes three control buttons 24′, 24″ and 24′″. First control button 24′ may be used as a power or an “on/off” button for turning display panel 12 on and off by pressing button 24′. Second control button 24″ and third control button 24′″ may be used to browse through images 14 stored in the electronic memory device. Specifically, button 24″ is preferably a “forward” button which, when pressed, is used to browse forward through the stored images. Likewise, button 24′″ is preferably a “backward” button which, when pressed, is used to move backward through stored images. Second control button 24″ and/or third control button 24′″ are pressed repeatedly until desired image 14 is selected as displayed on display panel 12.

In alternative embodiments of this invention, the selection of images 14, sounds and/or other media to be played and/or displayed by ornament 10 may be remotely controlled, such as for example by the use of a remote control.

Ornament 10 further includes data transfer interface 20, such as data transfer port 33 shown in FIG. 5, on surface 21 of housing 16. Data transfer port 33 is preferably in operative communication with the electronic memory device, such that one or more images 14 and/or other media files, such as audio files, are preferably uploaded into the electronic memory device, through data transfer port 33, from an outside data source. In one embodiment of this invention, the outside data source is a computer, and data transfer port 33 is connectable to the computer through a cable connection, e.g., a USB cable, or otherwise, to enable transfer of images stored in the computer into the electronic memory device of ornament 10. Other suitable outside sources of data for uploading images into ornament 10 may include digital cameras, digital video recorders, and/or phone cameras.

In one preferred embodiment of this invention, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, data transfer port 33 is positioned on or near bottom 34 of housing 16. Alternative placements of data transfer port 33 on surface 21 of housing 16 are contemplated by this invention.

In one preferred embodiment of this invention, shown in FIG. 5, data transfer port 33 is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. A USB cable is connectable to the Universal Serial Bus port on ornament 10 at one end and to an outside data source connection at another end, to facilitate the transfer of selected images, audio files and/or other media files. Alternative embodiments of this invention may include other suitable data transfer ports and/or memory card readers, such as CF cards, memory sticks or similar removable storage devices known to those skilled in the art for the transfer and/or storage of electronic data.

Ornament 10 of this invention may employ any other data transfer technology, standard and/or wireless, known to those skilled in the art. Data transfer interface 20 of ornament 10 of this invention may comprise, without limitation, standard Universal Serial Bus (USB), wireless USB, IEEE 1394, e.g., FireWire™ or i.Link™, Wi-Fi, and/or any other suitable data transmission technology known in the art.

Planar surface 36 is preferably formed on surface 21 of housing 16 and at least partially around data transfer port 33, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. In one embodiment of this invention, planar surface 36 is about 1 mm high, as measured in the direction away from surface 21 of housing 16. Distal edge 37 of planar surface 36 preferably lies in a plane, such that when ornament 10 is placed on a flat surface, ornament 10 does not tip over, but is supported in an upright position by planar surface 36.

According to one embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 preferably further includes a power supply (not shown) for supplying power to display panel 12, the electronic memory device, user input interface 24, audio output device 46, and/or other components of ornament 10. In one embodiment of this invention, the power supply used with ornament 10 comprises at least one disposable or rechargeable battery. The at least one battery my include, without limitation, an alkaline battery, a lithium battery, Li-Ion battery, e.g., a 250 mA Li-battery, Li-Poly battery, NiMH battery, NiCd battery and/or any other suitable battery known to those having ordinary skill in the art. The at least one battery is preferably at least partially enclosed by housing 16 and removable from housing 16 for replacement or recharging through access panel 38 in housing 16.

Ornament 10 and any component thereof, including display panel 12, the electronic memory device, user input interface 24, audio output device 46, and/or any other component of ornament 10 may be powered by an external power supply, such as for example AC power. In one embodiment of this invention, shown in FIG. 9, ornament 10 includes power cable 50 directly or indirectly connectable to an outside AC power source, e.g., a domestic AC power socket. In one embodiment of this invention, ornament 10 can be powered by connecting plug 52 of power cable 50 to a Christmas light string.

The ornament of this invention preferably supports Windows 2000™ operating system, Windows XP™ operating system, Windows Vista™ operating system and/or any other suitable operating system known to those skilled in the art, and combinations thereof. Software may be provided with the ornament of this invention to facilitate the uploading of images, audio files and/or other media files into the electronic memory device and/or to facilitate the wireless acquisition of media to be displayed and/or played by the ornament of this invention.

While in the foregoing specification this invention has been described in relation to certain preferred embodiments thereof, and many details have been set forth for purpose of illustration, it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is susceptible to additional embodiments and that certain of the details described herein can be varied considerably without departing from the basic principles of the invention. Therefore, to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter regarded as the invention, the following claims conclude the specification.

Claims

1. A holiday ornament comprising:

a housing generally defining a shape of the ornament;

a display panel attached with respect to the housing such that at least a portion of the display panel is visible, the display panel displaying at least one electronic image thereon;

an electronic memory device in operative communication with the display panel, the electronic memory device storing at least one of the at least one electronic image and at least one electronic audio file;

a data transfer interface in operative communication with the electronic memory device, the electronic memory device receiving at least one of the at least one image and the at least one electronic audio file from an outside data source through the data transfer interface;

an audio output device, the at least one electronic audio file playable through the audio output device.

2. The holiday ornament of claim 1 wherein the display panel is a digital display panel.

3. The holiday ornament of claim 1 wherein the display panel is at least one of a Low Temperature Poly Silicon panel, a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) panel, a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED) panel, a surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) panel, a touch screen display panel, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display panel and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel.

4. The holiday ornament of claim 1 wherein the data transfer interface is a data transfer port connectable to the outside data source for uploading therethrough at least one of the at least one image and the at least one electronic audio file from the outside data source into the electronic memory device.

5. The holiday ornament of claim 1 wherein the data transfer interface is at least one of a Universal Serial Bus (USB), a wireless Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394 and Wi-Fi.

6. The holiday ornament of claim 1 further comprising a power supply.

7. The holiday ornament of claim 6 wherein the power supply is an internal power supply.

8. The holiday ornament of claim 6 wherein the power supply is an external power supply.

9. The holiday ornament of claim 1 wherein the at least one image is at least one of a JPEG, a BMP, a PNG, a GIF, a MPEG, a DivX™, a XviD, an Adobe Flash™, a Flash LITE™ image.

10. The holiday ornament of claim 1 wherein the electronic memory device is a flash memory device.

11. The holiday ornament of claim 1 wherein the display panel has one of a concave curvature and a convex curvature.

12. A holiday ornament for displaying on a holiday display, the ornament comprising:

a housing forming at least a portion of a surface of the ornament;

a display panel at least partially positioned within the housing, the display panel forming a portion of the surface of the ornament, at least one electronic image displayable on the display panel;

an electronic memory device in operative communication with the display panel and an audio output device, the at least one image storable in the electronic memory device and selectively displayable on the display panel, at least one electronic audio file storable in the electronic memory device;

an audio output device at least partially positioned within the housing, the at least one electronic audio file playable through the audio output device upon selection;

a data transfer interface connectable to an outside data source, the at least one image and the at least one electronic audio file transferable from the outside data source into the electronic memory device through the data transfer interface; and

at least one user input interface in operative communication with at lest one of the display panel, the electronic memory device and the audio output device, the at least one user input interface operable to selectively display the at least one image on the display panel and to selectively play the at least one electronic audio file through the audio output device.

13. The holiday ornament of claim 12 wherein the electronic audio file is at least one of an MP3, an AAC, a WAV, an audio file incorporating DRM technology, an Ogg, a Vorbis, a Theora, a Speex, a FLAC, an ATRAC and a MOD.

14. The holiday ornament of claim 12 further comprising a stand attached to the housing, the stand supporting the ornament in an upright position when the ornament is placed on a surface.

15. The holiday ornament of claim 12 wherein the image is at least one of a still image a moving image and an animated image.

16. The holiday ornament of claim 12 wherein the image is at least one of a photograph, a text, a letter, a number, a picture, a video, a movie, a film, an animation, a computer animation, a cartoon, an animated cartoon, a manually and/or digitally created artwork, a computer animated film, a computer graphics, an electronic computer animation, an interactive media and a computer generated imagery.

17. The holiday ornament of claim 12 comprising a plurality of display panels.

18. The holiday ornament of claim 12 wherein multiple images are displayable on the display panel simultaneously.

19. A Christmas tree ornament comprising:

a generally spherical housing, the housing including an aperture having a periphery;

a display panel at least partially positioned within the housing such that at least a portion of the display panel corresponds to the aperture, at least one electronic image displayable on the display panel;

an electronic memory device in operative communication with the display panel, the at least one image storable in the electronic memory device and selectively displayable on the display panel; the electronic memory device storing at least one electronic audio file;

an audio output device in operative communication with the electronic memory device, the at least one electronic audio file stored in the electronic memory device selectively playable through the audio output device;

a data transfer port connectable to an outside data source, the at least one image and the at least one audio file transferable from the outside data source into the electronic memory device through the data transfer port;

at least one user input interface in operative communication with at lest one of the display panel, the audio output device and the electronic memory device, the at least one user interface operable to selectively display the at least one image on the display panel; and

a hanger at a top of the housing, the hanger removably attachable to the holiday display.

20. The Christmas tree ornament of claim 19 wherein the user interface is operable to preselect a time to autoactivate at lest one of the display panel and the audio output device.