T-Mobile Cameo Parrot Digital Photo Frame

04.06.2009
If you're a text message junkie, you might find the Cameo (US$99, plus a $10 monthly fee for a data connection, as of 5/7/09) appealing. Although its leather frame has a touch of the bargain basement about it, the screen itself is quite good, and the design is extremely simple. The Cameo's 7-inch screen has a 720-by-480-pixel resolution and good-looking, natural color.

The frame has only three control buttons on its back: one for OK, one for left, and one for right. A friend sends you a picture text or an MMS, and you accept or reject it. If it's accepted, boom: it's on your screen and in rotation. The Cameo senses when you have rotated the frame, and rotates the picture accordingly.

Bear in mind that this frame has very limited internal storage--just 64MB. You can, however, insert a media card to play pictures from other collections in between the pictures received via text. But you have little in the way of controls. You cannot alter slide-show transitions or add music; you can, however, adjust the screen's brightness.

Text messaging junkies will appreciate this frame, but its $10-per-month subscription fee is certain to limit its appeal.