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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  • 66 Posted by sayanilata on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    Is there a service fee or just $99 to purchase. I use digital trail cams and that would be a great feature

  • 67 Posted by hw4090 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    Very Cool. Works great. You must be in the wifi zone with a computer and an have live internet to configure it any time you go to a new wifi network. No preconfigurations for potential wifi zones you may enter. No static IP assignment, must use DHCP. All photos are saved on their website in a history that you can not clear. If you say you want your pictures delivered to a folder on your home PC, they get there from where ever in the world you attach your wifi. Automatic uploads to flickr, etc. Works with Access Points only, no direct peer to peer (camera to PC)connections. Automatically picks the config for the wifi zone you are in (and have previously configured.) If you are out of range, pics auto transfer when you get back into range of one of your preconfigured wifi nets. You must tell your camera to leave the SD card slot power on (varies with camera model) so that pictures can continue to be uploaded. (WiFi is slower than the camera can write to the SD card) Great product, don't expect privacy, not as fast as sandisk ultra ii or extreme iii flash. Very useable and fun -- get one!

  • 68 Posted by sayanilata on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    How lazy are we? Great now you no longer have to lean forward and plug in your camera. Who cares this is why we have so many problems in america maybe we should be using our technological brilliance and deep pockets to figure out a way to get nationwide healthcare and take the stranglehold away from HMO's and Pharmicudical companies.

  • 69 Posted by vdorton on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    #86 - You should have a password on your home wireless anyway. That way no one has access to your network. That keeps the pervs from using your ISP to download other stuff, that COULD cause you trouble in the future. JMHO

  • 71 Posted by ljbarlow6028@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    These devices will able us all who use camcorders to now get our material to internet that much faster. Just THINK of the possibilities.

  • 72 Posted by slukayak01 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    wow..it's interesting to see stuff like this.think i will give it a try myself.one thing i was wondering though is will it come in different sizes like for the Sony digital camera which takes the slimmer card?

  • 73 Posted by liljes4101 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think this is a good idea, infact a very good idea, although for someone like me who doesn't have that much money will have a struggle trying to find the money to but one. Also it only supports JPEG files i think, and although that is the most popular file type, what about those people who use other types of file. It may make things easier but it still has a few hitches. Thanks Russell

  • 75 Posted by jasson0001 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    wow, finally something less hassle in transfering photos. i mean, pop it, upload it, then take pics again. so great! w/o even attaching a single cord. why did they just invent this now? hahaha!

  • 76 Posted by lshearonb on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:58PM EDT Report Abuse

    The idea is good but it is hard for the batteries and you have to be really close to a hot spot because an antenna there is not very strong.

  • 78 Posted by jakelohanforex on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:27PM EDT Report Abuse

    It's such a stupid idea. How difficult is it to transfer your files from your SD card to your computers? Wi-fi could save us alot of troubles with the wires and space when we connect printers and laptops to the network on a permanent basis. The SD or memory cards are very tiny and easy to carry already, why do we need to wi-fi them?

  • 79 Posted by tonyisit35 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:16PM EDT Report Abuse

    this is the silliest invention yet! it takes more energy to set the wireless and connect then it does to either 1) take out the card and put it into your computer (assuming one has a reader in the computer) or 2) use a wire to connect it to one's computer! REALLY, lets think of better ways to spend our money! like on sending kids to college, or sustaining small farmers in other countries... whatever. UNNECESSARY

  • 80 Posted by lfgonzales on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    The Eye-Fi card can is designed for use in digital camera that use SD memory cards - about 75% of all digital cameras. It works in 1 of 3 modes: 1. Upload to Web 2. Uupload to Web + Computer 3. Upload to Computer. If you select Upload to Computer, your computer has to be on, and the photos will upload directly to it, via your local router. If you've chosen Upload to Web or Upload to Web + Computer, your computer does not have to be on. The Eye-Fi Card will upload through your router, and up through your broadband, to the Eye-Fi Service, and from there, to your online destination (facebook, flickr, etc...) and back down to your computer (if you chose Web + Computer). Eye-Fi only keeps your photos long enough to distribute them to the online service you choose and or your computer. Once they are sent to the online service and computer, all Eye-Fi keeps is a thumbnail image used to show you your upload history. They have more about this in thier privacy policy at support.eye.fi/privacy/.

  • 81 Posted by kindainebriated on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:51PM EDT Report Abuse

    Ok, Let me break it down for you. There is currently only an SD version available. The card comes with Software preloaded and a USB Card Reader. You install the software on whatever wireless networks you wish the pictures to be sent to. After that, when you take photos, they send to whatever computer on the wireless network it is able to connect to that already has the software loaded to. So, you go to a relatives house during the holidays and have already installed the software to their computer, the images go straight there. You are in a public network, not going to a computer. You also have the ability to select different web services to have it upload to. Basically security is no more or less with this, than of any other wireless device in your home. Can you plug in and download the pictures easy enough? Sure! If you went on a vacation, came in the house and put down the camera while you unpacked and came back to have the pictures already uploaded, I'm sure you wouldn't complain. The device only transmits, it does not receive. I've seen it in action and it works very well. If you have a wireless network in place and take a lot of pictures, then you would love it. If you don't already have a wireless network, this is probably not going to convince you to get one.

  • 82 Posted by hamasakib_84 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    interesting. but should everything in the universe be emitting some type of frequency. I love new technology just like the next person. But getting bombarded with so many different waves cant be good in the long haul.

  • 83 Posted by aamer_84 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    well, instead of buying this you can buy a wireless transmitter for your SLR camera and transmit pictures on the go to the computers. The only thing is that wireless transmitters are not made for everyday point and shoot cameras, for which this will be a substitute.

  • 84 Posted by corderpounder99 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    sweet thats a kool way to send to your pc not to mention if your digi cam does video you could make it a security camera.

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