I-Mate Closing Momento Live Online Photo Service

i-Mate have announced that they will be closing down their Momento Live online photo sharing service on February 25th, meaning users of their WiFi-enabled Momento photo frames will no longer be able to send and receive images automatically.  In an email sent to all subscribers, i-Mate warned users that they will need to backup any images stored on Momento Live, as once the service terminates they will be deleted.

Thankfully, as well as Momento Live, the i-Mate digital photo frames also support RSS feeds for new photos, meaning that there's still a way to semi-automate getting new images onto the displays.  However certain features, such as sending photos direct to a frame from a cellphone, or adding messages to pictures, will now be far more difficult without i-Mate's system.

The news has understandably frustrated those who bought i-Mate Momento frames over the holiday period, expecting to be able to take advantage of the online system.  i-Mate has not given any reason for its termination of the service.

i-Mate email:

Dear Member,

The Momento Live service will be terminated on February 25, 2009. After that date you will not have access to the Momento Live website or services. However, your Momento frame will be unaffected so you can continue to enjoy viewing your photos on your frame.

The closure of Momento Live web site means you can no longer store your photos on the Momento Live server and/or and share your photos with other Momento Live members.

Important note! Any pictures that you have stored on Momento Live server will be permanently lost after February 25, 2009. If you have any images stored on the Momento Live server, please ensure you have a copy of them stored on your PC. Any images that are hosted on Flickr, Picasa, SmugMug, or similar services will not be affected.

When currently visiting the Momento Live web site you may receive a website security warning as the SSL certificate has expired and will not be renewed. Please ignore this message. You are welcome to continue onto the website to retrieve your images.

To visit Momento Live please click here.

Any questions you have may be directed to momentosupport@imate.com

Thank you,

The Momento Support Team

[via Engadget]