Eye-Fi: First Wireless Memory Card for Digital Cameras

Fri Nov 2, 2007 12:47PM EDT

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Now here's a great idea. Take a normal-looking 2GB SD card. Add a wireless chip to it. Stick the whole thing into your camera, and before you know it you've got a wireless camera. Now add a dose of software smarts onto the SD card to manage the whole thing and what do you get? You get a quick wireless ticket straight from your camera to any one of 17 different social networks or photo-sharing sites including Facebook, blogging sites like TypePad, photo-sharing sites like Flickr and Snapfish, or your PC or Mac. If you've been lamenting how your photos never seem to make it out of the camera, lament no more. The price? $99.99 with 2GB of storage (about 1,000 photos).

I caught up with Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi, shortly after this product was announced. He shed some additional light on how stuff works behind the scenes. The card has everything, including the software necessary to get you up and running. All you need to do is tell the card which service you want your photos sent to. It also archives the photos on your PC or Mac. And while you can belong to multiple services, you can't send your photos to more than one at a time. Currently the card supports JPEG files only, but transmits photos without any degradation in resolution. It will resize the photos if the online destination requires it.

Holove says, "Digital cameras made it extremely easy to take pictures, but the rest of the process is a hassle." Wireless, he says, will make things much easier. We'll have a review unit momentarily and report back, but this sounds like a winner.

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  • 46 Posted by jime.rm on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:35PM EDT Report Abuse

    What's the upload rate? Obviously it would be limited to the wireless transfer rate/signal on the chip. Seems like it can get pretty slow for pictures that are bigger in size.

  • 47 Posted by eruditeftw on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    My next door neighbor has a computer. Would my pictures go into his computer instead of mine? All my neighbors have computers. How do I keep my pictures from going into their computers? Wireless? Scary! With wireless it's no telling where the pictures will end up.

  • 48 Posted by ruth_sanchezdr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    Ahhhhh advances in technology.. such a grand thing. As I expected, though, some people just can't be pleased! The card has the technology for those who don't want to spent another large sum of money for a wireless camera that may or may not be of the quality they desire. We've waited HOW long for this technology to show up in the first place? Just have a bit of patience now that we know it's possible, for it to expand amongst the rest of the card types. If it came out in CF cards first, people would ask when it will come out for SD so just hold your horses. Your time will come. I also say as a first, manufacturers won't release the most advanced, expensive device anyway.. baby steps, plus it allows for people who don't have a ton of cash able to enjoy a hint of what's to come so that they will want to save up for the more advanced models that are sure to come.

  • 49 Posted by teladom on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    THAT IS GOOD FOR THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE THE DX CARD, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US THAT HAVE (CF) AND (XD) CARD, WILL THEY BE WORKING ON THAT ?? FUJI 9100 HAS THE XD AND THE CF... SONY I THINK HAS THE SONY (STICK) AND THE CF CARD..THANK YOU..

  • 50 Posted by arizpuro_mn on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    That is SWEET! Really, that's a great addition to modern technology. Very cool.

  • 51 Posted by mykletomlinson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    Can this be used as Wifi For a phone. or is their a MicroSD card available for surfing the net through a phone.

  • 52 Posted by gushway on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:14PM EDT Report Abuse

    Now you REALLY have to be careful about what pictures you take!!! They might end up where you didn't expect them too!!!!

  • 53 Posted by smkngun1983 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:30PM EDT Report Abuse

    This is really amazing. I could not think and imagine that digital technology changes so quickly. I hope that with the help of wireless chip, it will make it easier for the photo-journalists to transmit the phtographs of an event directly to their respective newspapers office right from the venue. In addition to the still photographs, people responsible in upgrading technology should also work hard that video films should also be transferred without any wire right from a venue to respective television stations to broadcast live transmissions. Syed A. Mateen

  • 54 Posted by jddrums on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    Great - just like everyone can tune in to your Bluetooth, they can now download the pics you made of you and your GF without you knowing. Only non-thinkers can like this.

  • 55 Posted by leeward_98a on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:48PM EDT Report Abuse

    I can't wait to claim all of your photos as my own!!!

  • 56 Posted by jp_pablo on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    Does this make sense? Wouldn't it be more "economically efficient" to integrate wireless in the camera itself, instead of in the memory card? I have one camera and several memory cards. Or do we believe that people use their memory cards in multiple devices, and that this would share the wireless functionality across all of them? This doesn't reflect my personal use. I have several cards. I never take the card from my GPS, or my MP3 player, or my camera, and swap them into one of the other devices. Am I the exception or the rule?

  • 57 Posted by tfree_20002000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    devices are coming that will utilize Wimax...with burst speeds of almost 10 meg it will blow away what you can do on todays 2.4 ghz wireless...and they will be cheaper with the wimax chip built into them...instead of an add on card that runs slower...stay tuned and see Sprint

  • 58 Posted by maureen_mohr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:12PM EDT Report Abuse

    yes very intresting!!!if you make me a 200 gb i will give you 1 million$

  • 59 Posted by jcm2x on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:30PM EDT Report Abuse

    The conspiracy theories begin. WTH are you taking pictures of that you are afraid the "big bad govt" might want see? Naked kids? Multi angles of big buildings? Secured areas of airports? For crying out loud, stop being paranoid!

  • 60 Posted by dtmillering on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    this is so old news! typical of yahoo's editing!

  • 61 Posted by ruth_sanchezdr on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    What kind of security does it have? Can it be setup to connect to a certain network? Say I have a network at home and my neighbor has one also, I would not want the pictures to be accessed by them or any other random person. I would not like pictures I have for sale to be available to anyone driving by. I would want to send them to my desktop to be printed out on my photo printer.

  • 62 Posted by felipe_dl on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    Can some one advice if this card would be compatible with the iphone in terms of down loading the pictures directly.

  • 63 Posted by eshukis on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    Wow..dats amazing..i have the old SD card version.. never thought this new version have been invented.. i was just thinking that it would be easy if i have this wireless SD card for my DSLR camera (Nikon D40).. hope it would be compitable with my camera..

  • 64 Posted by jsb49er on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    To me it still sounds like a hassle.Why not just have it go directly to your email?When it comes to these new cameras I'm all thumbs anyway.The less I have to sign up for the happier I am.

  • 65 Posted by dtmillering on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    how does one secure the data in the card? it seems that it would be as easy for me to share as it would be for someone to get my data.

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