Pro 80 Specs

• 8-inch screen
• 640×480 pixel resolution
• Aspect Ratio 4:3
• Media Server Support: PC with Vista, Windows Media Player 11, Macintosh with additional media server software
• Memory Card Support: CF. MS, SD, MMC and xD
• Two interchangeable faceplates in rich wood and classic black finishes

The PicturePlan photo delivery service allows users to display photos sent from authorized computers or camera phones. Owners all gain access to gallery cards, free CEIVA Channels like ABC News and ESPN sports and free applications. There’s also an iPhone application that transfers images from the iPhone to the frame.

The frame looks nice enough, and we don’t want to minimize their online services, which adds value – but their service is expensive and the 640×480 resolution leaves something to be desired. If you’re look for a simple frame to gift to an older parent or the like, there are probably better options. If you have to have a frame with a built-in modem, then there aren’t, the CEIVA line is perfect for you. But we’ve learned from iMate already what happens when users depend on paid services for their frames to work.

The CEIVA Pro 80 Digital Photo Frame retails for $179.99 and comes with a year of PicturePlan.

This new application gets CEIVA into Facebook, something Microsoft’s FrameIt and Frame Channel were already offering, in some form or another. The application is pretty sound, the only down side is you have to access it through applications, it’s not integrated with the Facebook Photos application and with some of the Facebook interface changes, it can be difficult to remember how to get back to CEIVA Sender. But Facebook oddities aside, it’s easy to select and add photos to your CEIVA online account and is a nice extension to the CEIVA content offering.

More about CEIVA

The CEIVA ecosystem is a combination of digital picture frame hardware and CEIVA software tools. Of course the frames work on their own, but they’re most effective wtih CEIVA’s paid content service, called PicturePlan. PicturePlan lets CEIVA frame owners have access to tools like CEIVA Sender for Facebook and other sharing and content options like weather, news and sports scores. PicturePlan is a fee based service that runs $9.95/month which is discounted for annual or 3-year terms. The CEIVA frames come with a phone-line modem which is used for their updates, but an optional WiFi or Ethernet adaptor may be purchased and used in lieu of the modem.

Both frames connect to Ceiva’s PicturePlan service, the main selling point for either frame. While they’re similar frames, CEIVAlife uses a phone line or Wi-Fi to connect while CEIVAshare only uses a phone line. The pitch is that with the PicturePlan service new digital photos are automatically delivered to the frame. Subscribers can invite their friends and family to send photos online or directly from a camera phone to the frame. While both frames get 3-months free, the service isn’t cheap to maintain. The one-year plan is $99.95 and the 3-year is $249.95. At least Ceiva includes a lifetime warranty with the PicturePlan service.

CEIVAlife

CEIVAlife features multiple connectivity options including traditional phone line or Wi-Fi and an 8″ 640×480 pixel display. Ceiva has also included a multi-card reader that handles CF, SD, MMC and MS cards and an on-frame software for image enhancement. To help it blend in, CEIVAlife ships with two faceplates, black and wood grain. CEIVAlife retails for $159.99.

CEIVAshare

CEIVAshare connects to online services via traditional phone line and features an 8″ 800×600 pixel display. Like CEIVAlife, CEIVAshare includes a built-in card reader and the image enhancement software. CEIVAshare retails for $129.99.

Frame Media has issued a press release indicating they plan in fighting Ceiva’s claim that Frame Media is infinging on their patent that essentially covers serving images to a digital picture frame over a network of some kind. The patent was issued in 1999 and does appear to be a bit broad by today’s standards.

Frame Media’s CEO Alan Phillips said, “The technology in our FrameChannel service does not infringe on the patent owned by Ceiva Logic. We will defend our service which allows frame owners to program a unique stream of images that is updated dynamically, combining their own photos with dynamic content provided by FrameChannel and its partners.”

Phillips went on to say, “FrameMedia was served a few days ago. We are only at a very early stage of discovery. However, our initial findings suggest not only that Frame Media does not infringe Ceiva Logic’s patent, but that Ceiva Logic’s patent may be invalid. We look forward to presenting our case in U.S. District Court.”

It will likely take many months if not years to see how this plays out. Frame Media is venture-backed, they recently added $3 million to their war chest. Although investors won’t be happy about defending against intellectual property claims with that money, they should be able to see it though to determine the validity of Ceiva’s patent.

Ceiva has filed suit against Frame Media, Inc. and Digital Spectrum Solutions, Inc. for patent infringement. Specifically, it’s patent 6,442,573 filed in December of 1999 that sounds as if it covers any digital picture frame that obtains content remotely via a network of some kind. If that’s the case, and a court interprets the patent as I think it reads, Frame Media and Digital Spectrum might as well get out their checkbooks now. Of course patent law is a bit amorphous and there are often conflicting patents and so on, but even in 1999-era tech lingo, this one sounds pretty clear. It remains to be seen if Ceiva will go after the many other frame companies that leverage networked devices to load photos. A piece of the patent filing follows.

A system for distributing image data comprising: at least one frame device configured to operate according to preferences defined by a user, said at least one frame device comprising a border region modeled to resemble a picture frame designed to circumscribe printed photographs; a user interface coupled to at least one server system via a network wherein said user interface is physically separable from said at least one frame device and configured to obtain image data and said preferences from said user and provide said image data and said preferences to said at least one server system; said at least one server system coupled to said at least one frame device via said network, wherein said at least one server system is configured to periodically relay said image data and said preferences to said at least one frame device when said at least one frame device automatically issues a request for said image data.

[Via socalTech.com]