PhotoPhone

The development of personal technology has staged in to a higer level. The home phone can show you not only who is calling, but also what the person looks like.

The $140 device, the Photophone, combines a cordless phone with a digital photo frame. Using SD, xD or Memory Stick cards, you can load up to 100 digital photos into the device, which can then be displayed on the seven-inch screen.

When it is not in use, the Photophone operates like a standard digital photo frame, displaying a slide show of all the available photographs. When a call comes in, the phone will display both the number and the photos if you have associated some photos with that phone number.

While it is not being marketed as such, the Photophone could be a boon to older people who may have trouble recognizing a phone number or reading text on a small screen. Even the boomer generation might appreciate a visual clue. At the least, they can figure out who is calling when they are across the room. ERIC A. TAUB