Where is a truly internet enabled picture frame in this day and age of uncapped data plans?

May 28, 2009 10:15 AM

Which wireless digital picture frame does update RSS feeds often ? (Alternatively: To which frame can I push a picture over WLAN via ftp/sftp?)

I want to make a small doordisplay that updates automatically with new information every half hour or so. Digital picture frames with WLAN and the capability to read RSS-feeds seem to be the cheapest solution and also seem to require the least cabling.

The Kodak W1020 that I have seems to only update the RSS feed every 3h or so. But my RSS feed changes more often than that and I want the frame to poll the RSS feed more often.

Does anybody know a WLAN or LAN enabled frame that is still available and polls RSS-feeds frequently?

Or is there any frame out there that I can push a picture to? It has to be over ftp or similar though. I do not want to use a proprietary program from the manufacturer since this is scripted from a linux server.

posted by mmkhd to computers & internet (5 comments total)

for $39.99 upfront, and a monthly cost of $1.99, you could get the T-Mobile Cameo, and then just send e-mails to add new pictures.
posted by jrishel at 12:13 PM on May 28

Thanks jrishel. Though I'm living in T-Mobile's home country, the Cameo is not available here. Additionally I would prefer to be free from any outside service provider.

Another idea more in my line could be to use the Gigabyte convertible Netbook PC as a picture frame. But real frames generally look better and are cheaper.
posted by mmkhd at 2:37 PM on May 28

this looks to be what you'd want: iGala
posted by jrishel at 4:28 AM on May 29

Thanks jrishel. Tha iGala looks like a good one. It seems configurable enough to accomplish what I want. Now I just have to find it in Germany or the EU. (Shipping from the US is often a hassle and lets not forget potential 110v/240V problems.)

If there are any more suggestions out there, please keep them coming.
posted by mmkhd at 6:07 AM on May 29

Just to make this askme more useful:
I bought the iGala picture frame. The software is quite good for using it as a picture frame, but what I like most, is that you simply can ftp images to it. It is not an advertised feature of the frame but seems to be standard to default uClinux installations.
From looking at their website and forums, I would say that the frame seems to be undergoing improvements quite regularly.
The touch screen on the frame dims the display a bit it and makes it harder to view from an angle but it vastly improves the user interface.

I use it as a room sign that automatically shows the information from our room reservation system. I just grab the information from the reservation system's website, munge it through a messy shell script with sed, awk and friends and finally compose a text containing image with imagemagick that I push to the frame via ftp thereby overwriting the old image.
posted by mmkhd at 3:36 PM on June 28