Parrot Cameo Digital Frame

Dec. 3, 2008— -- Hello, your frame is ringing! If you have non-tech savvy relatives who are just aching to see up-to-date pictures of the grandkids, consider buying them the T-Mobile Cameo digital picture frame.

The frame itself is a 7-inch 720×480 LCD display made by Parrot. It has all the usual trappings of a digital picture frame, including an SD memory card slot and a mini-USB port, but it can also receive MMS messages. That means you can e-mail or text message photos captured on a mobile phone directly to the frame because it has its own cell phone number.

The service, provided by T-Mobile, will cost $10 per month for unlimited messaging. Anyone from anywhere on any cell phone plan can send pictures to the phone number of the Cameo frame.

You, your siblings, your Uncle Joe, can all send pictures to the frame and show Grandma those pictures only a grandma would want to see. The person who owns the frame simply has to accept the picture in order to save it.

The important thing is to make sure the T-Mobile service works well in the area of the person who will be using the frame. The best way to do this, if the person isn't already using T-Mobile cell service, is to buy the frame and try out the service. Of course, if you decide to cancel the monthly plan, you can still put images onto the frame using the memory card or via USB.

Frames are available at T-Mobile stores for $99.