Ceiva announces low-cost, WiFi-ready Digital Photo Frame lineup

The bevy of entirely overpriced digiframes out there had us wondering when digital frame prices would finally stoop beneath the stratosphere, and while we're still not entirely there yet, Ceiva is making strides. The firm's most recent lineup features both 7- and 8-inch flavors, decked out in wood or black frames and sporting "high resolution" LCDs. While marketed as a groundbreaker in the world of WiFi frames, this is far from the first wirelessly-enabled rendition out there, and oddly enough it doesn't even include an 802.11 adapter right out of the box. While $24.95 Ethernet and $34.95 WiFi adapters are available, the PicturePlan service (3 months free, $6.95 per month thereafter) works by default using a standard telephone line which "dials up" to check for daily photo updates that you (or someone else with permission) has uploaded to your Ceiva online portfolio, and also gives you access to "free channels for daily updates of weather, sports, and news." While all this fancy connectivity is fine and dandy, the frames also accept your typical CF, MS, MS Pro, MS Duo, SD, SmartMedia, MMC, Micro Drive, xD, and miniSD cards, but apparently lack a convenient USB connection. Nevertheless, the 7-inch Digital Photo Frame comes in at just $149.99, while the 8-inch variety demands $50 more, and bundles of all types are available if you're interested in years of PicturePlan service or ho hum digital cameras.

[Via Digital Camera Info]

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Dec 7th 2006 12:15PM]

For $200 I just get a used laptop on ebay with a USB wifi adapter for $20. Or an Aubrey.

[jay.viz @ Dec 7th 2006 12:23PM]

It won't look like a picture frame and it might be a little heavy to hang on the wall.

[Simon P @ Dec 7th 2006 12:22PM]

I agree, these aren't even remotely close to sensibly priced yet, especially as the wireless option bumps it up more. I really want to get a few of these things for grandparents for Christmas for grandkid pictures and such but the little invisible dude on my shoulder keeps shouting "RIP OFF, RIP OFF!"

[LikesGadgetsWillTravel @ Dec 7th 2006 12:44PM]

Who would hang this thing on the wall, seeing that you'll have the power-cord hang down? That said, you can fairly easily adapt a picture frame to a laptop-screen and put the rest of the electronics in a stand. And then, not only do you have a picture frame, but an mp3 player and more... And it's larger than the tiny 8" screen they use. Scour ebay... 11-13" TFT laptops are

[asher @ Dec 7th 2006 12:49PM]

it's still cheaper and cooler to ebay an old working laptop and make your own. These need to drop to $50 or less to make them consumer friendly.

[tiuk @ Dec 7th 2006 12:53PM]

While I fully agree that cheap laptops are the way to go, I think it'll be a long time before we see 11-13" digital picture frames drop to under $100. A price like that doesn't even cover the components (at least, I don't think), so the only way they could sell it so cheap would be if it were a loss leader for something else.

[jonathan @ Dec 7th 2006 12:57PM]

I would think it would be a good gift for somebody like my grandmother. We could be constantly updating the photos of her grandchildren. Grandma don't know crap about computers.

[Karl @ Dec 7th 2006 1:00PM]

I have purchased 3 of these (well the older models) for my mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother-in-law so that they can see updated pics of my son.

The frame plus the plan can be a bit on the expensive side, but in no way would I characterize it as a rip-off.

These things are perfect to give as gifts to non-tech savvy people As an example: my mother in law still worries that her frame calls our house at 3 am and might wake the baby, and my mom can never save files on her computer because she thinks the "open folder" icon is the save icon, since "you are opening a folder to put something in it", but both of them feel comfortable with their Ceiva.

All of the administration can be done remotely (even when it turns on and off) so I can manage everything and the recipient literally only has to plug it in. It's hard to overstate how much easier this is than having to send them an SD card or something like that.

That being the case, a wifi add on strikes me as totally useless. The type of person this was meant for doesn't have a wireless network, and someone that does would be sophisticated enough to find other options cheaper and more versatile.

[Jesse @ Dec 7th 2006 2:42PM]

I completely agree - I did the same kind of thing for my mother-in-law. The allure this one offers me is the idea of putting it up in MY house and viewing my own digital pix with it. I'd have no need for the subscription, though.

[SubGenius @ Dec 7th 2006 1:01PM]

This seems like such a natural product for Apple to do.
iTunes - iPod
iPhoto - iFrame

Apple could keep it real simple to.
No need for 15 different disk formats or WiFi
Just Bluetooth and 512 MB of NAND Flash memory.
iPhoto should scale the photos down and sync them to the iFrame.

[Kazolar @ Dec 7th 2006 1:09PM]

I made a really nice one out of a $50 laptop + $20 for shipping (nice 14" screen), custom software I wrote, and a $30 dollar shadow box from a craft store. Some mat paper some and other supplies for another $50. She doesn't have wifi in her apartment -- obviously -- so I configured it with a pre-paid dialup service. My grandma and her friends were sitting staring at the slideshow for hours. She even figured out how to turn it on and off.

[Jake @ Dec 7th 2006 4:40PM]

Ok. Many of you want to buy old laptops and convert them. I get that.

For those of use that don't mind shelling out a few bucks for something that is easy and idiot proof, this seems pretty cool. I like the automatic phone dial-up feature. I'm pretty sure my Dad can figure out how to plug it in to a phone jack.

It sounds like people that have actually used the Ceiva service like it. Is that accurate?

FYI, I called Ceiva and these newest models aren't shipping yet. They are accepting orders and expect to ship within 5-7 business days but will not "guarantee" that they will be delivered pre-Christmas. Somebody, somewhere at Ceiva messed up pretty badly on the timing on this thing. Whoops.

[Clarence Boddicker @ Dec 7th 2006 6:27PM]

Holy crap, Ceiva is still kicking around?

I remember back around 1999 or 2000 talking to someone there at the company (about product development) and I was underwhelmed to put it politely. I knew more as a 27-year old than what I presumed to be their head of engineering, or whatever.... "They'll be belly up in 12-24 months" I told my business partner.

Well I admit I was wrong. Shows you how much I know.

But how in the name of God have they survived? Who is buying their product? I mean, is Granny, who is too poor/cheap/scared to move away from dial-up, going to need/allow something like this in her house? Not to mention the whole distasteful subscription B.S., that's what I really thought would be Ceiva's kiss of death.

Sorry, I have nothing against them, in spite of how my rant may sound. I just remember thinking when I saw their first product (in my best Chris Rock impression): "Just because something CAN be done, doesn't mean it's to be done!!!"

Well, AOL seemed to know how to hang on in spite of the odds, I won't count out Ceiva either.

[Scooter @ Dec 7th 2006 11:18PM]

most old laptops have lousy screens with dim and narrow viewing angles. Many also take forever to start up and can be noisy.

I just picked up a 10" digital frame (via ThinkGeek) for $180 +freight and the angles, contrast and brightness are good, though not what I would demand from an HDTV. It plays images and MP3s and also AVIs (though ironically it is more able to play downloaded movies than camera-generated files, esp. if only 15fps).

I only a see benefit in these monthly-payment plans if your grandparents don't have wifi and you really need to send them constant updates. If it is for personal use I recommend peeps take a look at the new 7" eStarling which has wifi and can be configured with RSS feeds and email, so you can send it updates for free.

[nick @ Dec 9th 2006 3:50AM]

For the tech savvy person, a CEIVA might not be the best method.. the price + subscription seems a little ridiculous to those that can do it ourselves. However, having said that I'd never imagine hacking together a laptop and giving it to my mom, and expecting it to work flawlessly. Nor could I imagine her trying to debug it when windows/linux/whatever crashed inexplicably. The CEIVA is nice because it is pretty error free, and comes with tech support, meaning I don't have to go out and fix yet ANOTHER thing.

Also, judging from the pictures of the back of the frame on their website, it appears that the CEIVA does indeed take USB thumbdrives for pictures.

[Will @ Jan 5th 2007 12:14PM]

My mother has had one of the original CEIVA frames for over three years. Our only problem has been some down time when she had to ship it back twice over that time for repairs. Each time they have repaired it for no charge and all she had to cover was shipping cost to them. They also gave her credit on her plan for the downtime. She has it on her kitchen table and checks for new photos each morning while eating breakfast. Her house is low tech and at 83 with some vision problems, operating a computer is not an option. She is very comfortable with the operation of the CEIVA frame and we've been able to troubleshoot minor problems over the phone. Since I'm 5 hours away, running over to fix a computer problem isn't an issue and for someone who doesn't really need anything, the annual renewal makes a nice birthday present. If they would give us a deal to upgrade, I'd consider trading the old one in for one of the new 8 inch screens.

[Henry @ Apr 30th 2007 1:51AM]

For the record, how about this offering for around US$150 … A bluetooth enabled digital photo frame with 128MB memory, USB port, movie support, video support, speakers and remote control. Also, it can stream content from a WiFi Bluetooth source. No subscription B.S. required either.
http://www.digivista.com.au/product_bluview_5_6_inch_bluetooth_digital_photo_frame.html
Cheers,
Henry