Okay, so this technically has nothing to do with parenting, specifically, and I’ll admit to that. It does, however, have to do with another hobby of mine: photography. Or more specifically, with the viewing of photographs.
So, when I had the opportunity to get my hands on one of these lightweight (read: easy to travel with) photo frames, I jumped at it.
Honestly, it’s way fancier than I needed, and does a lot more than I feel is necessary in a photo frame, but that’s just because I’m perfectly happy with doing it the old-fashioned way – with a memory card full of pictures.
This Kodak Pulse does so much more, though. Firstly, it is Wi-Fi compatible, so it’s options for receiving data are so much wider. It is quick and easy to connect to a wireless network, from where you can add pictures from your computer, the Kodak gallery, Facebook, your mobile phone and from your frame’s own email address (so that people can send pictures directly to it).
In addition, the Pulse alerts you when new photos are added, so you don’t have to miss any pictures, ever. The touch screen makes for easy navigation of the 4000 photos that can be hosted on the internal memory, with USB and card slots also available.
From an environmental point of view, the Kodak Pulse is great too. Not only does the screen not contain any mercury, but it has a programmable timer so it can be set to be on when you’re generally around and off when not.
The downsides are the cost – at anything from £89 to £130 depending on retailer it costs a lot more than ordinary Wi-Fi-free frames – and the fact that you pretty much have to have wifi to set it up and get it to work.
All in all, the Kodak Pulse is a great frame, and is kind of the picture version of Twitter – you will see all your friend’s photos if you set up for Facebook – but these are easy to delete at least – and you can walk in to find new photos every day if you wish. A great benefit is that select family and friends can email photos directly to it – so granny and grandad can see photos of the young ‘uns at any time. Or you can see photos of a wedding in progress as it’s happening.
Although I still love my photo albums, I can happily admit that I print less photos now that I have them all visible and available. And of course, 20,000 photos travel a whole lot easier on the Kodak Pulse than in a suitcase!
Kodak has very kindly offered a Diary of a First Child reader the chance to win your very own Pulse. In order to win, tell me about your favourite photograph in the comment section below. The competition closes at 12 GMT on 25 October 2010, a winner will be chosen at random using Random.org and is open worldwide, but please note the plug is for a UK product so if you’re not based in the UK you will need an adapter.
You do not have to tweet or share this competition to enter, but doing so helps ensure that I can keep bringing you give-aways every week! You can subscribe to Diary of a First Child by RSS, email or through Google Friend Connect (see the bottom to the right). You can also follow us on Facebook or on Twitter. We hope to see you back again soon!
Small Print:
And the winner is : Pauleen Lazar, congratulations and happy photo viewing!
A huge thank you to everyone that participated in this competition. Some of your favourite memories and recollections of favourite photos brought a tear to my eye!