Hands on with the Ceiva 8-Inch Digital Picture Frame

Set Up

Onscreen Interface
The Ceiva frame is set up through an onscreen interface controlled by buttons on the front of the frame (the frame does not support USB keyboards, contrary to the documentation). Entering letters or numbers on the screen will bring to mind the slight frustration of text messaging –onscreen buttons are mapped to the upper and lower case of three letters – but you won’t need to do it very often.

Go Slow With the Buttons
The buttons on the front of the frame are a little sensitive and pushing them too quickly can cause the cursor to run ahead of you, overshooting the option you’re aiming for. It’s tempting to click quickly to get through the set up process, but it will be more efficient and accurate if you go slower.

Select Button – Unlocker of Options
In the course of using the onscreen buttons, you may wonder how to get at some of the options mapped to the buttons you’re seeing. The “select” button is the key. The menu button will get you to the configuration screens, the arrow keys will take you in the right directions, but it’s the select key that scrolls through all the options.

Beware the Wireless Password Bug
There’s a bug in Ceiva’s software that causes wireless network passwords with uppercase letters not to be entered properly. It’s likely that Ceiva will fix this bug and automatically update all affected frames, but if you get a frame before this happens, you should be aware of it. If you find that the frame is not connecting to your wireless network and it’s reporting an error related to your wireless password, try re-entering the password with all lowercase letters. This should solve your problem.

Use

Adding Photos
Photos are added to the frame through the web management interface or email. To add photos to the frame, you use a somewhat overloaded web management interface that lets users upload photos and order prints, mugs, or t-shirts bearing photos from their account.

Content Channels
Ceiva offers channels that display content from ESPN, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal, the Weather Channel, and photos from photo libraries. These channels are updated each time your frame updates with new photos. You can use the web management tool to select the channels you want to subscribe to.

No RSS Feeds
Because of the presence of the content channels, the Ceiva frame does not support RSS feeds.

PicturePlan Subscription
Access to the content channels, and updating photos over a network, require a subscription to Ceiva’s $9.99/month PicturePlan service (not required for displaying photos from the memory card).

Don’t Wait for Updates
The frame lets you schedule photos to be downloaded as often as every hour. To update faster, hold down the top button on the back until a message appears. Follow its instructions and the frame will connect to Ceiva’s network. Let the button go and soon enough new photos will be showing on your frame.

With Content Channels, Closer is Better
If you plan to use the content channels, don’t set your frame up too far from where you’ll view it. The resolution of the content channel images is a little low and they get hard to read from six feet away or more. The frame is sized for display on a desk or side table, so keep it there if you want to enjoy the content channels.

Emailing Photos
You can also email photos to the system via mobile phones or PCs. Despite some initial difficulties, Ceiva tech support helped me send photos from my phone, while sending from my desktop email client was a snap. If you have problems with your phone, contact Ceiva for support.

Style

Removable Faceplates
The case that houses the screen has a not-entirely-stylish detachable plastic faceplate that allows users to choose between black or a faux wood-grain. Ceiva has offered more upscale choices for its earlier frames, so hopefully those options will migrate to this new version soon.

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