CEIVA view point FRAMED

The digital picture frame designers at CEIVA have tapped into the fact that more and more photos are being stored on home computers.  The new CEIVA Pro80 frame has been designed for easy access directly to an entire photo collection kept there. A clever new feature included in CEIVA’s newest frame is its built-in connectivity that allows photo streaming from Windows Media Server back to it.

Like all other CEIVA frames, the Pro 80 ingeniously connects to the internet to allow friends and family across the world to share their pictures by sending them directly into it. This exclusive internet connection is one of services that are bundled within the CEIVA Picture Plan. One year of the CEIVA Picture Plan is included FREE with every CEIVA Pro80.

The CEIVA Pro 80 features a high resolution 8-inch active matrix digital LCD screen, 640 x 480 display resolution, standard memory card readers, WiFi adapter, interchangeable face plates and CEIVA’s Perfect True-to-Photo display that puts an end to photo stretching, cropping or squishing. Internet connectivity is via WiFi or traditional phone line.

The soon to be released (release date 8/10/09) CEIVA Pro 80 has a list price of $179.99.

While digital frames keep evolving, consumer understanding stays pretty much the same… and can be misunderstood. Only after owning and using a frame does a consumer understand what their frame does and doesn’t do. So if you are in the market for a digital frame, answering these two seemingly simple questions will spare you disappointment later.

QUESTION 1: What do you want to SEE on your digital frame?

Now this might seem like a stupid question, but actually there are three content types to choose from when it comes to what a frame can possibly show. Of course there are frames dedicated solely to photo content. Then, while it is not highly desirable, there are some frames that can show short video content.  Finally, there are also frames that can accept information feeds that display instructional, marketing and/or news related content. Since not all frames show all content types, knowing what you want your frame to show will help guide and direct your purchasing decision. This leads us to the second question…

QUESTION 2: How will you connect to load & manage frame content?

Typically consumers don’t give this question much thought. Up until now they were typically sold on “stand-alone frames” (aka card reader frames) that offered what seemed to be a straightforward solution. Connecting to a frame to load it with photo content just by popping a card out of a camera and into the frame seemed simple enough. But over time, consumers with stand-alone frames began to understand that while it may have been simple to load the first time, the loading process becomes tedious as more pictures are taken. Plus, if the content requires any editing, doing so within a frame is an awkward undertaking, if it is even offered as a feature in the first place.

While connectivity to the frame controls content delivery, it does not always control what also is important to customers: content management. What shows, when it shows and how long it shows on the digital frame is content management. To make loading, managing and editing pictures simpler, frame manufactures are beginning to have their frames connect to a PC via WiFi or Bluetooth. Much like sending a document to a node printer connected on a network, content files stored on the PC can be to  “Node Frames” for display. Any editing would take place on the PC before sending.

Some Node Frames can also use the PC as a gateway middleman to a variety of Internet sites for content housed on the site. However, setting up and managing multiple connections from multiple sites to the middleman PC and then back into the Node Frame can be exasperating, tedious and difficult for most. Beware, this middleman PC approach to content delivery and management is currently being “sold” a simple Internet frame solution… but, in reality it can be a whole new approach to frame frustration.

Finally, there are true “Internet Frames” that are designed to connect directly to one site on the Internet via a wireless connection or through a traditional land line.  Unlike the Node Frame, that again depends the PC as content and management middleman, the true Internet Frame connects to one Internet site as the gateway access point to all desired frame content and content management. The Internet site is designed as a one stop content and management solution for the frame.  The site offers and manages all the functions related to picture hosting, content delivery, a variety of information feeds and even photo editing. Conflicts for access to and display time on the frame are eliminated because all content types are managed at one site.

Knowing a little more beyond what is being marketed and sold by most frame manufacturers will ultimately serve the consumer looking to buy a digital photo frame. Asking and answering two simple questions regarding what types of content they want to show and how they want to connect to load and then manage that content  on the digital frame will ultimately save them time, money and frustration… guaranteed.

So until the next post… that’s what CeivaJoe knows!

COMMENT

With each passing day there seems to be yet another digital picture frame being introduced to the marketplace. Typically what’s offered as “new” to the market is really another company doing what others have done before. However two new products have been released that takes digital frames to a new place… literally. One is the Hama Digital Photo Album the other is Sondata’s Shake –A-Pix portable mini album.

Hama Digital Photo Album

This digital “frame” is actually an electronic album used to store your favorite pictures to have ready to show when needed.

The Hama Digital Photo Album, with a 7” screen, it can fit in a pocket or purse. Its screen displays picture formats like JPEGS in 800×480 pixel resolutions. Operating on rechargeable batteries, its view time will last about 2 ½ hours on a full charge.

Like most digital frames, pictures can be transferred via the usual USB interface; and can store about 4GB of image files and supports the most common memory solutions like SD, SDHC and MM cards.

While pricing and release date have not yet been announced, the idea of a portable digital photo album looks like a promising idea.

Sondata Shake-A-Pix mini Digital Album

Borrowing the idea from the iPhone that uses shaking motion to engage functionality in some apps,  Sondata believes its tiny 2.4in photo frame, called Shake A Pix,  it is the world’s first portable digital photo album utilizing motion sensors. Quite simply…  shake it  to browse through your favorite photos.

This mini frame (and I do mean mini) has an internal memory of 32MB which, depending on file size ¸is just about enough memory to hold up to 170 jpeg or bitmap images. Photos are transferred into the 50g photo frame via USB connections.

The 5mm-thick photo frame measures 90×50mm has its own built in retractable stand. Its all powered by a tiny lithium-ion battery which can keep photos displayed for up to three hour on a single charge. Retail pricing for this mini album is expected to be $38.

Yesterday in New York Toshiba formally announced its entry into the digital picture frame market.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The TV monitor manufacturer, which has panels, designers, and brand recognition, has had digital photo frames in other markets outside the U.S.

Toshiba is calling their spin on digital frames a “Digital Media Frame” to stress the fact that they can do more than just show pictures once connected with Wi-Fi to the Internet.

“You can get digital photo frames today for $20 to $30, but this is more than that. We call them digital media frames because we are positioning them as devices to do much more than just show photos. These are more lifestyle devices that give you the news and weather and a range of other personalized content options,” said Louis Masses, Toshiba DAV group product planning director.

The frames will be released in an 8 and 10 inch version. Initial models offer a high-gloss floating-glass look in the 8-inch screen sizes, while the 10-inch model is looks similar to the company’s Deep Lagoon 2009 LCD TV design style.

The 8-inch Digital Media Frame comes with either black or white frame bezels. The white 8-inch DMF82XWU and the black 8-inch DMF82XKU will each carry $180 suggested retails. The 10-inch model will be offered only in a translucent black. The 10-inch DMF102XKU will have a suggested retail of $230. Both displays are said to be high-res, built-in speakers, and support for WMA and MP3 as well as Jpeg, TIFF and BMP.

CEIVA welcomes Toshiba to the growing list of manufacturers.

ELECTRONICS.CA PUBLICATIONS, an electronics industry market research group, recently announced the availability of a new report they have compiled entitled “Wi-Fi Represents Strongest Opportunity in Global Connected Digital Photo Frame Market”.

According to the report, in the first half of 2009 prices for digital photo frames have dropped to affordable levels causing the  market for digital photo frames to take-off. However, due to the down turn in economic conditions and the trend to purchase digital photo frames as gifts, pre-loaded with personal pictures, most units purchased are still quite basic and lack advanced features such as connectivity to the Internet.

The report also states that it is expected that wireless-enabled internet connected photo frames will be a key growth sector and will grow at two times the rate of overall digital photo frames in 2010.

The report also goes on to make the following points:

• Worldwide unit shipments of all digital photo frames are expected to reach 50 million by 2013.

• Nearly 60% of US respondents to consumer survey identified integrated wireless connectivity as a desired feature on their next digital photo frame purchase.

• The total silicon opportunity for digital photo frame suppliers will exceed $550 million by 2013.

• Microcontrollers comprise the largest opportunity in non-wireless enabled devices.

• The BOM for a wireless 8-inch digital photo frame will fall below US$36 by 2013; the LCD, with the wireless module and the enclosure being the dominant cost items.

So while more frames will become connected to the internet, the industry still has yet to understand the value of having frames connected to each other. The importance of sharing photos easily across family & friends’ networked frames, via a secure sharing service such as CEIVA Picture Plan, is the primary reason why CEIVA owners value being “connected.”

Further details of Electronics.ca new Digital Photo Frame  Industry Report’s table of contents and ordering information can be found on HERE on their web site.

So until the next post… that’s what CeivaJoe knows!

COMMENT

Two evenings ago, the New York Times posted an article in their “Gadgetwise” column entitled: Filling a Photo Frame via a Celluar Network. Rik Fairlie, the author, describes how bothersome it can be for adult children to keep the digital frames, given to parents as gifts, stocked with fresh photos. He writes, “you’re probably tired of driving over to your parents’ house to deliver a new SD card that refreshes the photos.” Fairlie then goes on to say that  “Soon, you won’t have to. A new company called Isabella Products will start a service called Vizit in mid-October that lets you send photos… to digital photo frame remotely.”

HUH? WHA? SOON YOU WON’T HAVE TO???

We here at CEIVA started offering photo sharing services to remote frames over 9 years ago. In fact, the New York Times wrote a story about CEIVA providing this type of service back in 2000.  Then in 2002, they wrote a story about grandparents and how the CEIVA photo share technology can keep them connected to family.

Now, I do not have a problem with telling the Vizit story and writing of the service they want to provide. But to taut this type of service as NEW… that just isn’t right. I mean let’s give credit for innovation where credit is due. In today’s information age, a little bit of research would have set the record straight.

So for the sake of journalistic accuracy and clarification, I thought I would post a comment on the “Gadgetwise” article citing how the New York Times had already announced this innovation years ago. Written below is a copy of what I wrote as a comment… which, at the time of writing this blog, oddly has not been posted.

All I can think of is “Imitation is the most serious form of flattery.”

While the ability to share and send digital photos to remote frames may seem new to some, actually it is a service we here at CEIVA have been providing our frame owners for nearly a decade now.

In fact, The New York Times has covered the CEIVA story from our start back in 2000. Here are some excerpts from past New York Times articles:

1.) NYT ARTICLE: STATE OF THE ART; A Frame To Hold Your Pixels, By Peter H. Lewis Published: Thursday, March 2, 2000 “Using Ceiva’s technology, one can send up-to-the-minute pictures of the kids to Grandma’s bedside table anywhere in the country…”

2.) NYT ARTICLE: Digital-Generation Gifts for Radio-Generation Parents, By Jeffrey Selingo Published: Thursday, November 21, 2002 “…interested in sending your parents new pictures of the grandchildren every day, you might consider the Ceiva picture frame…”

3.) NYT ARTICLE: When a Picture Is So Good It Deserves a Frame, By Wilson Rothman Published: June 5, 2007 “Ceiva, which pioneered the connected frame concept more than seven years ago… downloads pictures that you have uploaded or family members have shared.”

We here at CEIVA continue to improve our products, and in the time since these articles were written our digital frames have evolved and improved a great deal.

While our users have been able to send pictures from their cell phones to a CEIVA Frame for quite a few years now, last November we created a FREE iPhone app called CEIVA Snap… which our users love.

Facebook users also enjoy the FREE CEIVA Sender app we have developed. This simple app allows users to send pictures directly out of their Facebook Albums and into family and friend’s CEIVA Frames.

CEIVA is proud to have been the innovative leader in the world of photo sharing to digital photo frames… and we look forward to developing new ways to make the photo sharing experience even more rewarding as time and technology moves on.

So for now, even though the New York Times has forgotten it… that’s what CeivaJoe knows.

COMMENT

The 4th of July reminds us of the heroic choice and sacrifices the men and women in the armed forces make to protect the freedoms and independence our country celebrates.

One of the biggest sacrifices  members of the military make  is moving their lives far from friends and family that love them. While we all know how they treasure hearing from “home,” Sargent Carlos V’s letter below reminds us how important it is that they also have a way to share what is happening in their lives BACK to “home.”

Hi, CEIVA!

My name is TSgt. (USAF) Carlos R. V. and I would like to tell you how CEIVA has been a life saver for us.

I have been in the Military for 13 years and have never had a way of getting photos to my parents as I am currently stationed in Germany. My Dad is retired Air Force and is now settled back in home in Houston Texas with my Mom. To send them pictures I would have to take the pictures, wait for them to get developed and make the long trip from Germany to Texas.

My parents were scared of computers and any new technology. So without them wanting a computer there was no way for me to e-mail pictures, until I came across CEIVA. I was kind of scared that my parents would reject the idea of connecting something to their phone line, but they seemed interested. I told my Dad to go to work and have someone show him the CEIVA website and how it was hooked (up).

Right away he purchased the frame and was ready to go. He had no complications, the instructions were super easy to follow and he told me that he was up and ready, and waiting for pictures.

With CEIVA we are able to send pictures every day. My parents are still in shock that I can take pictures of my daughter’s birthday party here in Germany and my parents are able to see the pictures the same day. It is amazing to them.

With me being in Germany I have been able to do a lot of traveling so it makes it easy for me to take a lot of pictures. But I just wanted to say this product has been perfect for our situation. My parents love it, and we are planning on getting one for my wife’s family.

Thank you CEIVA for making it easy for us to stay close, even though we are so far away.

Sincerely,
TSgt. Carlos R. V.
United States Air Force

CEIVA is proud to provide a way for our military and women to show their lives with their loved ones.

So, except for wishing you a picturesque 4th of July… that’s what CeivaJoe knows.

COMMENT

They seem simple, they seem easy, they seem innocent enough. But many digital frame owners, who have bought and/or gifted typical “card reader” type frames are finding out that, like that beast of a plant in the Little Shop of Horrors, typical digital frames can become hungry creatures with demanding and hard to manage appetites.

Digital cameras have grown to be a much bigger part of all our lives than traditional film cameras ever were. Because this is so, owning and/or giving a digital frame to display the best pictures of our lives has become quite enticing. However, not knowing what to expect or need in digital frame has resulted in consumers often buying low functioning frames. How user friendly the frame is when it comes to selecting, editing and moving your favored pictures from a camera and into a frame, is rarely considered… especially when a buyer is dazzled with a super low price.

Without a doubt cameras make it so easy and convenient to generate pictures… a digital frame’s “food.” But, until you own a digital frame that regurgitates the same batch of old pictures over and over and over again, will you understand just how “hungry” a frame can get. What makes the hunger pains worse is the fact that you know you have a camera card or hard drive full of fresh pictures waiting to be fed into your digital frame(s).

If you are responsible for feeding pictures to multiple frames then the process becomes even more horrific. All the time and effort it took to feed your first frame must now be duplicated on the second frame. If that second frame has been given as a gift, typically to less tech savvy parents or grandparents, then feeding the second frame can be even more of a nightmare… especially if the frame is located away from your home  or a computer.

So while digital camera technology makes it easy to snap up the moments of our life, and snap we do, getting pictures to the frame(s) so that we can display and share those moments takes time and effort. Having one tool that allows you to easily (1) weed out, (2) edit/personalize (3) organize and (4) move pictures onto one or multiple frames are features and services not typically bundled with digital frames of today.  Except for one… CEIVA.

CEIVA provides their frame owners with one comprehensive tool to feed and care for all their digital frame’s picture display and sharing needs. Our frames, with our award winning Picture Plan, allow you to select, upload, safely store, edit/personalize, and send your treasured pictures directly into the hungry frames you manage and also share your pictures to the hungry frames owned by friends and family… even Grandma’s.

With CEIVA frames you can tame the framed digital beast and never hear the dreaded “Feed me Some-more!”

So until the next post… that’s what CeivaJoe knows!

COMMENT

Lately I have been doing quite a bit of surfing and I have come to the conclusion that the Internet is one mighty big pond with a lot of croaking about new products going on. Especially when it comes to technical devices/gadgets, the pond is full of “reviewer” frogs.

The big bull frog review sites, that have a lot of influence in the consumer market, are sites like PC Magazine, PC World, Engadget, and CNET. Each, with its own full time staff, will jump on just about every consumer related technology product and croak out an opinion about it.

Then over on another lily pad are smaller, yet highly specialized frogs, that focus their croaks on specific technologies. Particularly, for the digital frame industry, sites like Digital Frame Review, Image Acquire and Digital Frame Guy are some of frogs that croak the loudest.

But not to be out croaked are mainstream media sites like Forbes, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, each have proficient frogs dedicated to new technology reviews.

Finally there are the tadpoles… better known as “Bloggers.” Now don’t think that because they are small they are not heard. Tadpoles, while not professional reviewers, are big influencers as they share their thoughts and opinions about any and all products or services they swim upon.

So while the pond might be loud and full of different croaking frogs, unfortunately many will not get KISSed.

What do I mean by KISSed?

Well, think about it… people who are attracted to write tech reviews are naturally interested in new technology. Their interest, coupled with the fact that tech products/devices/gadgets are constantly being improved, sets them up to expect rapid advancements to be a part of each and every new product they come across.

Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with product development and product improvement. However, sometimes what makes a device a good consumer product is that fact that the developers knew how to K.I.S.S. it. You know… “Keep It Simple Stupid”. I can’t help but wonder if reviewers, who are technologically superior to the average consumer, want more and expect more than they average consumer.

So my advice to you as you is this… as you read reviews remember, sometimes the real prince of a product may ultimately have been KISSed for the consumer, not the frog.

So until the next post… that’s what CeivaJoe knows!

COMMENT

Yesterday the Internet was all abuzz and twittering about SilverPac’s SilverFrame being shown at Computex in Taipei.

Engadget’s blog on the subject thought that SilverPac was doing “it’s best to break the boring mold of typical digital photo frames”. While over at Gizmodo they wondered if “SilverPac SilverFrame Is a Questionably Acceptable Use of the Term ‘Digital Picture Frame’.”

All this got me wondering, and wanting to ask a few questions.

• Is SilverPac truly “breaking the mold” or is it snuffing out the digital frame’s true purpose?
• At what point does a manufacturer cram a “frame” so full with technology and functionality that it no longer becomes a digital frame and becomes something else?
• Are the engineers that designed this “frame,” thinking that just because it has a video screen it needs to be filled up with a lot of gadgetry like a computer?

When it comes to product design for digital photo frames I could not help but think of two famous principles of GOOD design.

“LESS IS MORE” and “FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION”

To be honest, I am not sure this “gadget” adheres to these basic design principles. Why do I say this? Well, picture frames (even “traditional” frames for old fashioned paper pictures) are such that they sit in the background in our homes and offices passively displaying and sharing images of past moments that mean so much to us. Be it simplistic, picture display is the function of the form.

So I can’t help but wonder. Do people really want to fiddle, futz and get greasy fingerprints on another gadget that has functions commonly found on their computer, or better yet, their cell phone?

If showing personal photos is to be the primary function of the form, then I believe these over designed forms are not true digital picture frames. But what are they? Well, to be honest I am not sure what to call them. I do know that at CEIVA, photo display/sharing is the primary function we honor in our forms.

So until the next post… that’s what CeivaJoe knows!

POST SCRIPT: Do I see a trend? Since posting this blog this morning I have come across another “video screened gadget” being reviewed with the hopes that it be considered a digital photo frame. PC WORLD says in their review of Trancend’s PF720 that it “does it all, but… might be too much for those looking for a straightforward picture frame.“  And Tom’s Hardware writes “We’re also wondering why SilverPac is calling this a digital picture frame…” Hmmm… I guess it is not only me after all.

COMMENT