Wow. When they say plug-and-play, they mean it. From box to streaming in under 10 minutes.
No swearing. No frantic calls to the neighbor’s dorky teenager. No software to load. No written-in-every-language-but-one-you-can-understand instruction manual.
Even had my hometown weather forecast broadcasting sunny skies by entering my zip code with a quick tap, tap, tap on the screen.
Easy. Fast. Wi-Fi. Fun!
This is my kinda gadget.
I thought the older 8-inch eStarling frame was cool with its wireless connectivity and dedicated email address. We gave one to my parents a few years back and it’s still a huge hit.
After all, there it sits on their coffee table, when suddenly a picture of my sister and me hiking in the south of France, for example, flashes onto the screen. E-mailed from my global BlackBerry straight to the frame. Or, a photo of my brother, who lives in Salt Lake City, pops up as he swishes down the slopes of Park City. How cool is THAT? The enjoyment and connection the picture frame provides is amazing. No wonder it was one of the most popular items in my 2009 Holiday Gift Guide for Traveling Photographers.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Here’s a great last-minute holiday gift for traveling shutterbugs.
Hold on Gadget Girls, this is a fun one! eStarling (www.eStarling.com ) has just released their newest WiFi digital picture frame, the eStarling ImpactV, and, get this, the new model supports video clips. Now you can send photos and videos of your experiences, from anywhere in the world, to a photo frame sitting in a home or office anywhere else in the world. I love it!
Every ImpactV has a unique email address and can be connected to a home of office WiFi network to receive photos and video clips wirelessly.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say you are traveling to someplace exotic and fun for the holidays, but away from your family at home. You can take a photo or video with your mobile phone or digital camera and then send that video to your ImpactV frame back at the house. (With an iPhone camera the sending is automatic. With other camera-enabled phones that have emails, you can take the picture or then email it using the phones email camera. If you are using a digitial video camera or camera, you might make a quick stop at an Internet cafe to email the photos directly to your eStarling ImpactV frame at the house.) Cool, eh? I told you.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".