Earlier today, we met with Frame Wizard. And no, the company is not just another digital photo frame maker: It promises to bring animation to your still photos. The first thought that came to my mind was Harry Potter, of course, where portraits and photos on the front page of the Daily Prophet come to life. And sure enough, the company reps proceeded to describe their product as inspired in part by the Harry Potter world.

How does it work? To begin with, Frame Wizard's proprietary software analyzes your digital photos and detects the face and eyes. It can also separate out different elements of the photo; for example, in a photo of a boat on water, the boat was outlined; you could then add motion to either the water or the boat.

The user interface seemed easy and intuitive to use. You can add realistic wind and wave effects, as well as falling snow or leaves, bubbles, lighted candles, and more; you can also customize speed and direction. People and pets can be made to wink, wave, move, and blow kisses in quite naturalistic ways.  It was all a little eerie, and hard to believe the photos used to be still images--altogether more engaging and impressive than we expected!

You can add customizable mattes as well, then transfer the altered images (now in a proprietary AVA format) to the frame via USB, Flash drive, or memory card. No wireless yet, but the company promises that's in the works.

The frames, along with software, will ship in September, in 7-, 8-, and 15-inch sizes ($149.99, $199.99, and $299.99 list, respectively).  All will have 2GB of internal memory. We'll get our hands on a frame and software to test before launch, so make sure to check back for a review.