Kodak in Talks with Sprint – Digital Frame with Wireless Data Plan Coming?

Written on Mar 24, 2009 by Brian and filed under Kodak, News

Barely a week after we vented again about the T-Mobile Cameo digital picture frame and the concept in general of charging a monthly service fee to get data delivery to a digital frame over cell phone network, a new report indicates Sprint and Kodak are in talks to do something with wireless data. If that means Kodak is considering a digital frame with Sprint data modem, I sure hope they shelve the idea or figure out a way to make it more affordable and less onerous than the plan that T-Mobile levies with the Cameo.

Here’s what The Wall Street Journal had to say today:

The Overland Park, Kan., company is now talking with companies such as GPS device maker Garmin Ltd., Eastman Kodak Co. and SanDisk Corp., which makes storage devices, about delivering wireless Internet service for their products, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In these deals, Sprint will rent out its network and generally collect fees from manufacturers based on how much data is transmitted to the devices. Although wholesale subscribers provide less revenue than retail subscribers, Sprint doesn’t have to worry about expenses for billing and customer service.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to hear that Kodak is at least considering a frame with Sprint wireless service, we know AT&T is pondering a digital frame as well. And maybe we’re so negative on the idea because T-Mobile did such a bad job of designing their offering, but it just doesn’t compute. WiFi-enabled frames accomplish the same thing and setup is getting easier by the day. If you really need it foolproof, then CEIVA’s frames with old-school modem seem to make more sense. Kodak just needs to think this through before following in T-Mobile’s steps by rolling out a $100 frame that costs $120/year to operate.

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