Jackie Emigh over at BetaNews has the details on a very interesting proposition: a digital picture frame with it’s own phone number. T-Mobile has teamed up with Parrot to offer the Cameo, which would allow users to simply message the device with pictures, which would then be displayed on the frame.

The T-Mobile Cameo will sell for a fairly reasonable price of $99.99. A $9.99 monthly service charge would be required in order for the picture frame to work, and users would have the choice of either using MMS or e-mail to send pictures to the device.

While it’s (slightly) gimmicky, it certainly has some promising uses. These digital photo frame companies have long promoted these devices as a way to keep distant loved ones closer by allowing us to send them pictures and whatnot.

The problem has always been that these devices needed a Wi-Fi connection or a landline. I know it’s hard to believe but among some segments of the population Internet connectivity, much less Wi-Fi, is not very common.

Add to this the fact that significant numbers of us have also dropped our landlines and you see where I’m going with this.

Hats off to T-mobile and Parrot for a bit of forward thinking with this. I guess we will see if there is really a market for these connected picture frame devices, eh? One thing we’ll have to worry about is actually having service where we live — T-Mobile has been known to have signal issues within buildings, and in some areas there is no service at all.

 
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