Amazon.com says it will be the exclusive retailer for Ceiva, a new Internet appliance. Los Angeles-based Ceiva claims to be the first Internet-connected digital picture frame, which enables people to receive photos to a picture frame directly over a phone line.
The Ceiva frame looks and feels like a traditional wooden picture frame. Once activated, it automatically calls the Ceiva service every night and downloads new images sent by friends and family. The unit has no keyboard, no mouse and no PC operating system, the company says, just a color screen displaying up to 10 new photos every morning.
Ceiva operates by plugging an electrical cord and phone line into a socket and phone jack. To activate Ceiva, an online account is set up with a user name, password and a "buddy list" that tells Ceiva from whom it can receive digital images. Authorized senders can then upload their photos from a PC to Ceiva's Web site, and each night the receiving frame automatically checks for images, and downloads any new ones.
Ceiva will sold through Seattle-based Amazon.com for $284.99, which includes a free dial-up connection for one year. After a year, the connection is priced at $3 a month, it says.
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