Parrot has announced a brand new 7″ digital photo frame which it proudly claims to be “global”. The main reason for doing so being it accepting photos sent to it from a GSM cell phone through MMS, which means you will be able to update your digital photo frame for your family and friends to see despite being half the world away. Sounds like a pretty nifty idea, but make sure your phone’s digital camera is pretty decent to start with (VGA quality will just not do these days), and also ensure you are on some sort of cheap data roaming plan (now that’s an oxymoron if I ever saw one) since sending MMSes isn’t exactly the most pocket-friendly action to take while you’re traveling.

This is made possible since the Parrot DF7700 digital photo frame comes with its own integrated SIM card and a dedicated call number, just like your cell phone. I wonder whether one can remove the SIM card and place it inside a handset - will it then be able to receive incoming calls? But I digress, the DF700 will be able to receive MMSes as long as it is turned on, supporting a host of multimedia objects like images, audio, video, rich text. The entry requirements are pretty low - you will need a handset that supports MMS regardless of whether it is a CDMA, GSM or 3G phone. Secondly, you will need to know whether the area where you are placing the DF7700 will be able to receive MMS over a quadband network.

Other features on the DF7700 include USB connectivity and an SD memory card slot that makes conventional photo transfer a snap. Images will be automatically resized in order to optimize memory, while the built-in flash memory can hold up to 500 photos of your choice. There is no word on pricing, but the Parrot DF7700 is currently available in France. Parrot is talking to cell phone operators in the US, so keep your fingers crossed that they will come to an agreement pretty soon.

Press Release