HARDWARE
The further the digital photo gets from a computer, the worse it tends to look. But does one really want to haul out a laptop to show off pictures of the kids and the dog?
Ceiva has attempted to bridge this gap with the introduction of a Net-connected picture frame with built-in modem that plugs into a phone jack. For $249 and a nominal monthly fee, you get access to Ceiva's Web site, which serves as a kind of virtual photo album and lets you program a picture sequence. Users or family members can load images onto the site at any time. In theory, it's a nice idea; in practice, Ceiva has yet to see the full picture.
The product's envisioned user is the granny who would love to get periodically updated photos of her grandchildren but doesn't have a computer or Internet access. Yet I'm not sure a real technophobe is any more likely to warm to the Ceiva than to a Mac G4. The Ceiva frame may be cheaper than a computer, but for perhaps three times the price one could buy a desktop machine that would do much more than just download photos. The frame's portability is obviously a plus, but here again there are limitations: The passive matrix screen makes it necessary to view images almost straight-on and out of direct sunlight. And the frame's elegant black design is marred by a prominent Ceiva logo.
Still, hooking up Ceiva to download automatically from the Net is quick and easy, and one senses that as technology improves, digital photography will increasingly pop up in places far from a PC screen. For the time being, however, an analog wood-and-glass frame (and a paper photograph) still makes for more compelling hardware.
Ceiva: $249. Ceiva Logic: (877) 693 7263, www.ceiva.com.
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