Mrs. Mecomber's Scrapbook

My boys and I were strolling through Toys R Us yesterday (they had gift cards that were burning holes in their pockets). I dragged them away from thre Star Wars and Lego area so I could look at the electronics department (I’m a techno-geek). I saw some outstanding digitial photo frames on display. I was surprised to see how decorative and stylish they’ve become. Digital photo frames are kind of cool (I don’t have one). Most digital photo frames have some internal memory or require a memory stick (like a USB flash drive) to load photos into the photo frame memory. The photo frame displays the photos on the memory onto an LCD monitor. It’s pretty neat. But you do need to obtain a memory card in some way to transfer the photo data from your photo source to the frame itself. Sometimes you have to wait until Uncle Billy Bob is done with his camera photos in Bermuda, for him to load them onto his computer, to email them to you, for you to load them onto your USB flash drive, and load everything into your digital photo frame for display. Lots of steps.

The Ceiva Digital Photo Frame is a little different. This frame connects onto an existing phone line (or W-Fi connection). It will receive photos directly from a camera or cell phone, from anywhere in the world at any time. And there is no need to edit the photos to prevent squished images– the photo frame sets the photo up perfectly in the frame, automatically. I find this absolutely fascinating– such technology! I think all digitial photo frames are going to go this route, because it is so convenient. You essentially get Uncle Billy Bob’s snapshot of his sand castle in Bermuda at the moment he took the photo through his cell phone. The technology is AMAZING.

Ceiva has made it very easy for anyone to enjoy photos, even people who actually (*gasp*) don’t have computers!

Here’s the process:

• Choose the perfect Ceiva frame.
• Register your CEIVA frame and activate your PicturePlan® membership ($129 a year, includes service and frame).
• Send photos from your computer via email or cell phone directly to the frame.
• Receive photos from your existing phone line or Wi-Fi.

There are other ways to get your photos into the frame– the traditional USB drive, etc. See the site for more information. It’s pretty neat!