Pandigital Photo Mail DPF With AT&T 3G Drops Imminently

Remember the Pandigital Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame?  We mocked its name and wretched press shots back in January, but also lauded its integrated AT&T 3G for wirelessly receiving new images sent to a dedicated email address.  Pandigital have just announced that the $179.99 will go on sale within the next couple of weeks, and they've also confirmed pricing for their pre-pay photo download packages.

While the sticker price for the frame comes with 300 wirelessly-delivered photos, Pandigital are selling a further 100 for $9.99, 400 for $29.99 or 700 for $49.99.  Although we'd love it to be subscription-free, we guess that's the price you have to pay for avoiding WiFi; this strikes us as the ideal DPF for a grandparent who doesn't have broadband.  There's also a 6-in-1 media card reader and USB port for side-loading images (with no charge, obviously) to the Photo Mail frame's 1GB of internal memory, which can then be rotated and resized, and have their brightness and colors tweaked.  Finally, it'll play back AVI videos and MP3 audio.

[via Photography Blog]

Press Release:

Pandigital Begins Shipping Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame

Connected to AT&T Nationwide Wireless Network, Photo Sharing is Timely and Convenient

DUBLIN, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Pandigital today announced it is now shipping its highly anticipated Pandigital Photo Mail® Digital Photo Frame to several national retailers.

The Pandigital Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame is a next-generation, wirelessly-connected digital photo frame that displays photos emailed directly to its dedicated email address. Customers can share that address with family and friends to allow them to send photos directly to the frame from their own email account – whether it's from a computer, smart phone or any email-enabled device.

Incredibly easy to use, photos can be viewed on the Pandigital Photo Mail frame very quickly. The frame connects to email wirelessly through AT&T's nationwide wireless network, so emailed photos are transmitted rapidly and reliably.

"We're coming up on a fun and busy time of year where families are together often for special occasions like Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduations and summer vacations, and the Photo Mail frame is a great way to enjoy and share photos taken at these get-togethers," said Dean Finnegan, CEO and founder, Pandigital. "With the frame, customers have a convenient, reliable way to view their photos and then share them quickly and easily with their family and friends."

Pandigital Photo Mail frames are shipping to popular national retailers now and will be available for purchase by customers in the next several weeks. The Pandigital Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame will have a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of $179.99. The price of the frame includes the ability to receive 300 photos emailed to the frame with no service fee to the customer. Additional photo allotments may be purchased directly from Pandigital: 100 for $9.99, 400 for $29.99 and 700 for $49.99.

"Photo sharing is simple and timely with the Photo Mail frame connected to AT&T's wireless network," said Glenn Lurie, president, emerging devices, resale and partnerships, AT&T Mobility. "With this new era of connected frames, photos will no longer be held captive on a camera or a smart phone. Grandparents will have convenient, up to date access to a grandchild's latest adventure and parents will have the ability to stay in touch visually with their children away at college."

Customers are alerted by the frame when new photos are emailed to its dedicated email address by friends and family so that they may quickly accept the photos in a single step to then begin enjoying them. Because the frames can receive photos from a smart phone or other email-enabled device, photos can be sent from virtually anywhere, even on-the-go.

Traditional Digital Photo Frame Usage and Extra Features Give it Full Functionality

In addition to having the capability to receive photos via email, the Pandigital Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame can also be loaded with photos via its 6-in-1 media card reader (Compact Flash, SC, XD, MS, MSPro and MMC) or via a direct connection to a computer or digital camera. The frame can also be connected to a Wifi network via an add-on wireless adapter.

The Pandigital Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame has an 8-inch back-lit LED display that displays photos in vibrant color and a picture-enhancing 800x600 resolution. The 4:3 aspect ratio preserves the original format of the photos, ensuring that they are not stretched or cropped. Plus, with a full 1GB of internal memory and Pandigital's memory optimization mode, consumers can enjoy up to 6400 images on the display. Also, images can be rotated and resized, and brightness and color settings can be changed. The Pandigital Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame also can play back AVI video clips and MP3 music files.

Maintaining the upscale style of the Pandigital line, the new Pandigital Photo Mail Digital Photo Frame features a traditional look with a real wood frame, photo matting and a glass screen cover, so it looks great in the home or office.