Is it possible, with off-the-shelf parts to set up a digital photo frame with friends/family abroad so that I can ‘instantly’ add photos to the list of photos being shown on their digital photo frame?
Ideally, the setup is the following
They have a broadband connection that is always on
They have a WiFi network set up
They place the photo frame anywhere in the house (and possibly attach some needed device to it)
The photo frame/‘other device’ updates its list of photos by either frequently checking some website, or by the photos being ‘pushed’ to the device by me (assuming it has an IP address)
I did quite a bit of web searching, but couldn’t find a product that works as desired.
The closest was some photo frame that required a subscription, but I’d rather find a way to do it without a subscription.
e.g. could I use a wireless-enabled PDA that connects to the photo frame? The PDA would connect to the home wireless network, have an IP, and be able to retrieve things from the web.
Can the PDA connect to the frame and give it a list of pictures, though?
Re your requirement that you be able to “push” photos across the net directly into this frame without owner gate-keeping is actually quite an undesirable option to be enabled on anything that’s going to be publicly (even in your home) displayed, so I doubt this capability is inbuilt in any commercial product.
If you use some remote control software (many different types available) that allows you to take over their PC and upload new pics then beam them to the frame you could possibly do this, but permissions would have to be set on their PC to allow this.
However, the intended use is for my parents, who are not very computer savvy and don’t have their PC turned on all the time.
So, I would like to send the photos to the photo frame while their PC is off. (Though their broadband connection is always on)
Surely there are other people out there with non-computer-savvy parents who would like to see up-to-date photos of their kids and grandkids.
Of course, I could just periodically store several photos on a memory card and mail it to them and they could place it in a photo frame that accepts memory cards, but snail-mail is so 20th century
The way I envision it is: My kid does something funny/cute, I take a few pictures with my digital camera and upload them to a website to be downloaded in a couple of minutes by the photo frame in my parents’ home. Voila! Instant sharing.
The issue is that, if you’re not careful with passwords and such, or if the device is naive about such things, anyone could push photos to the device. It wouldn’t be very good for your parents to glance over and see your kids replaced by Goatse or Tubgirl (it’s nasty - don’t google it lightly).
Ceiva has frames and a service that does what you want, but you have to pay for it. There’s also the Wallflower frame, but the company went out of business.
