Eye-Fi WiFi-enabled SD card finally shipping

It's taken well over a year for Eye-Fi to bring its self-titled wireless SD card to market, but on the plus side, that Benjamin now gets you 2GB of storage -- a welcome boost for a rumored capacity that had dipped as low as 512MB. In case the past 18 months have made the details a little fuzzy, this 802.11g card requires a one-time setup on your PC before it's ready to automatically upload full resolution pics to one of 17 websites each time you turn on your camera. Even better, a backup copy is also sent to your PC, ensuring that your photos are safely archived when your favorite social network folds.

[deep @ Oct 30th 2007 1:53PM]

This is a great little piece of tech!!! Very useful. I wonder what camera specs are required.

[Nabil @ Oct 30th 2007 1:54PM]

I think this is the first time when I'm in complete awe about a new piece of technology.

this is unbelievable.

[nih @ Oct 30th 2007 2:39PM]

Indeed. This is one of those rare devices that is both evolutionary and revolutionary. It's simply the next step in terms of combining technology, but can completely alter how owners sync their devices. I want one.

[brad @ Oct 30th 2007 1:57PM]

would this work with a treo 700wx?

[ScOObyDoo @ Oct 30th 2007 2:02PM]

You'd think Adorama would have the damn thing on their website, since they are announcing it...

But currently only Amazon has it up (ships in 3 weeks). I put my order in with them since none of the others would let me...

[laughallway2bank @ Oct 30th 2007 2:02PM]

It would be great if you could use this with non-wifi smartphones... thus eliminating the need to gripe: "yea this phone is perfect, but no wi-fi... no deal!"

[deep @ Oct 30th 2007 2:08PM]

Make one in the form of a stupid Sony memory stick. I hate their proprietary format and the stupid non-standard bundled cables for their cameras. Too much extra shit to lug around.

[Ricardo @ Oct 30th 2007 7:03PM]

Hmm... there is a solution for that: buy cameras from another brand.

Maybe if Sony's cameras were the best in the market, I could forgive using proprietary everything. But most of the models are below average in terms of quality, features and speed. Combine that with proprietary interfaces and I really don't know any good reason to buy them.

[ja$on @ Oct 30th 2007 2:11PM]

This may not be the smartest question ever but- what is the point of this?
You can't just pop this thing into a camera or mp3 player to make those things wifi compatable, right? So I guess you could use it with a laptop or maybe a cell phone? But I don't really see how you could use it on a cell phone.

[Paul @ Oct 30th 2007 2:15PM]

Well, one use I can see for this, is if you are at your house and taking pictures, say a birthday party, or a family gathering, then the pictures will automatically be sent to your computer, and then you can make a few CD's for people that want to take pictures home with them.

True, you could just hook your camera up and then copy the pictures over, then burn the CDs but this would probably save 15-20 minutes of transfer time.

[Jevanzz @ Oct 30th 2007 2:12PM]

Presumably you have to be in an area with wireless networking for this to work when you take the picture?

[deep @ Oct 30th 2007 2:18PM]

What's so hard about this? It says "2 GB". It will store 2 GB and will connect to a Mac or PC that has software installed on it to recognize the card. The card will upload the pictures (or whatever?) to the computer when the user uses that program. Read the article and the link to the press release.

[Jevanzz @ Oct 30th 2007 3:10PM]

Just from the brief summary Engadget gave, I thought the camera actually uploaded the photo to the web or PC when it was taken. I never made any comment about the size/capacity of the card.

[Mark @ Oct 30th 2007 2:14PM]

Ok, so I have my MasterCard ready in hand, and want to buy this thing, but can't find any retailer that will ship it to Canada. Any fellow Canadians know where to buy this thing?

[God @ Oct 30th 2007 3:53PM]

south of the border

[God @ Oct 30th 2007 4:56PM]

ebay

[ja$on @ Oct 30th 2007 2:14PM]

So apparently I didn't read the article.

I'm stupid.

[Mark @ Oct 30th 2007 2:20PM]

The point is, you take a picture, it stores it to the sd card, and when you enter an wireless access point, it will automatically push the pictures you took to your desktop or to a service provider. You configure the card using your computer.

The camera treats it as a regular SD memory card, and the card itself does all the work. If you are already in a wireless access point when taking the picture, it will push the photo to directly to your computer instead of saving it to the card. You could also have it setup to push photos to your media center. This thing has so many convienience and cool factors that I wanna buy 5 of them, and wrap them as gifts.

[billndotnet @ Oct 30th 2007 2:21PM]

You can't use this in a smartphone or similiar device and get traditional network connectivity. I would theorize that the wifi controller only talks to the datastore, and has no ability to speak to a host controller in a smarter device.

My conversation with Eye-Fi on the subject -

Me: Will the Eye-Fi be supported in Windows Mobile devices, as a means of adding storage and wifi capability to a device that has only one SD slot (and no existing wifi capability). One example of this would be the Treo 700wx on my hip.

Eye-Fi Customer Care: Thank you for contacting EyeFi. That is a very good question. Unfortunately, the sD card is not configured to be used as a WiFi card. Meaning, you will not be able to receive an internet
connection via the card. The cards software and firmware are setup to support wireless photo sharing. For the most part it is an outbound signal and would not recognize incoming Java script, Flash, Shockwave and HTML/FTML files. We appreciate your your inquiry, and again, thank you for contacting EyeFi.

[timak @ Oct 30th 2007 2:27PM]

JPEG only? My card reader works just fine, probably faster... I shoot everything in RAW, so I would have to do everything the old fashioned way. Considering my 2 gig Regular SD cost me $15.00....

[ChockPants @ Oct 30th 2007 3:05PM]

This device is not aimed at RAW shooters and the overhead that implies (both in files size and post shooting production). It is for photographers to upload pictures instantly to Flickr and the like. Last I checked, web browsers didn't display RAW images. DUH.
If you are serious about getting RAW to your computer wirelessly, there are plenty of options for high end DSLRs.

[Erwos @ Oct 30th 2007 2:37PM]

I think this might be good for people doing a photo or video blog of some sort - take pictures, and they instantly get uploaded to Flickr or whatever. Or, and I just realized this, you basically have limitless storage - take pictures, send them off on the Internet, and then delete them off the card.

I suppose I might be interested in a 512mb version of this card. Keep a 4gb SHDC card in the camera, but if things start going crazy, I could pop in the 512mb one and start doing the "shoot, upload, delete" cycle. Just remember to bring an extra battery.

[Thomas @ Oct 30th 2007 3:16PM]

Everybody commenting keep getting excited about being able to upload photos at any wireless access point but I'm pretty sure it only works on your home network with a pc connected with their software. I don't think you're going to be taking pictures at a coffee shop or on vacation and have it instantly sent home. Now THAT would be amazing!

[JJinNJ @ Oct 30th 2007 3:44PM]

Yes, it can send from any open hot spot. It won't work if it has a web based login or splash screen, but any normal open or password enabled wi-fi network will work.

[God @ Oct 30th 2007 3:53PM]

I don't see why it wouldn't... It uploads to "one of 17 websites each time you turn on your camera." - not your home network.

[Thomas @ Oct 30th 2007 4:29PM]

Ok, but how would you go about connecting to a password protected WAP on the fly? It's not like the thing has a UI, although depending on this products success camera manufacturers may incorporate a way for the camera to talk to card.

[Stuart @ Dec 10th 2007 10:27PM]

Quoted Text ------
Ok, but how would you go about connecting to a password protected WAP on the fly? It's not like the thing has a UI, although depending on this products success camera manufacturers may incorporate a way for the camera to talk to card.
End Quoted Text ------

You can't do it "On The Fly" However you can find out the settings, plug it into a laptop with the management software, program the card and after that it will always "see" that Network and connect when it is in range.

[thras @ Oct 30th 2007 3:23PM]

I'd love it if this worked the other way, and I could sync my Sony Reader to my PC wirelessly.

[N30 G30 @ Oct 30th 2007 3:55PM]

The only thing that will keep this from becoming a mega seller is the consumers' confusion about what this card does.

This is great for the lazy like me. When I take pictures, I'm too lazy to even connect the damn wire, which is already attached to a USB port, to my camera then wait for it to upload. Bleh...

Since my computer is always on, now I just have to walk in to my house and go to sleep.

I'm all for devices that works for me. Isn't that the point?

[rtdunham @ Oct 30th 2007 4:21PM]

editing--even if nothing more than culling--should be a prerequisite to posting. one should always shoot more pix than one ends up using. i'd be bored silly by a site showing ALL the pix the owner shot, unless the owner was shooting so conservatively they were missing a lot of good shots.

what i _would_ like to see is the ability for this card to send pix from my canon sd800is to my iPhone. I could manage memory usage on the phone carefully and have the ability to back up a full 2GB of photos while in the field. But i don't see any indication it would do that. Second choice would be if it could upload to my network--especially from wifi hotspots but at a bare minimum when in the presence of my home wifi network.

[mc_lovin @ Oct 30th 2007 4:04PM]

Okay, so the way I understand this there's some software on the card that looks for new .jpg files, then uses a script (with some user-modifiable parameters) to figure out where to upload the files online.

From the sound of that, it would be a cool little hack to figure out how to backup ALL files and point the card at a different website like a backup service.

imagine - every time you put files on your thumbdrive that uses an SD card, they're backed up online.

[ethana2 @ Oct 31st 2007 4:10AM]

You sound like a Linux user. For security's sake, in the event that said keyword is detected in photo medatada, the firmware will destroy itself, and the card will be limited to SD capability.

Regards, eye-fi.

[Dave @ Oct 30th 2007 4:26PM]

Where can we order this? Dell doesn't have it and Amazon.com says it doesn't ship for 2-5 weeks.

[PEZ @ Oct 30th 2007 5:14PM]

your camera dosnt need to support it, it just provides power and storgage. the card does the rest on its own. This is why you set it up before hand BEFORE you put it into your camera.

[john @ Oct 30th 2007 6:33PM]

this would be cool to set it to automatically upload to a ftp server, so no matter where you are, it uploads to the server that you can access anywhere.

[Jan Holm @ Oct 30th 2007 6:50PM]

slap a battery to that thing, wrap it in stainless steel and inject it into my body somewhere. Or at least make this baby act as a standalone wireless disk - would love that.

[McFly @ Oct 30th 2007 7:21PM]

it weighs 802.11 grams ????????

[Sim @ Oct 30th 2007 7:51PM]

Why don't people ever read?

It has to be the network to which it is registered, i.e. probably your home one. Not just any coffee shop or similar...regardless of the security on it, etc.



I was literally about to buy one when i realised it would upload ALL my photos to facebook, not just the 20-60% i want on there, i.e. the better/less offensive/less private ones.

It has options, or so says the website, for which are uploaded, but presumably it would stil require the effort of manually picking unless it can read my brain as well, thus saving no more than the effort of one cable and a button click to transfer, plus the upload yourself to wherever.

Not really worth the money then, if you have to accept every photo going whenever in range or go to comparable effort yourself.

[chris_whateverittakestogetauniqueID @ Oct 31st 2007 3:39AM]

From their FAQ: "We recommend using your Eye-Fi Card with your home network, or with other open or network password based networks."

So, uh, why don't you read? Not to be too confrontational or anything, mind you, but it does seem like it'll negotiate it's way through open WAPs as long as there isn't a splash screen...

[Pete @ Nov 1st 2007 1:46PM]

The WAP needs to be pre-registered on the card. It will not just hook itself up to any old network.

That being said, you could take a laptop to the coffee shop and register the Eye-Fi card there once. Then the next time and every subsequent time you go there the card would hook up and upload.

[soniiic @ Oct 30th 2007 8:08PM]

if the wireless reception on this thing is anything like my home network, it'll require me to restart the camera five times before it connects. and then immediately disconnects.

i really do like the idea of this though, amazing how they can cram so much tech into a tiny chip!

[justDIY @ Oct 30th 2007 8:49PM]

this should really aide the amateur porn photogs ... uploading those money shots to the website instantly from a live session

[skhawaja @ Oct 31st 2007 6:10AM]

I didn't know people were so lazy that they didn't even bother to read the original article or goto the manufacturer website.

This is a very intuitive product with 2GB of photo storage - multiple upload scenarios (comp only, web only, comp and web) - comp only gives you a chance to filter out what you don't want posted, and then uploads it for you - alot easier than logging in and sending photo(s) - indispensable

Of course you can throw this thing into any device with a SD slot - it just uses the power to find and upload it's JPEG contents - they do have a list methods for cameras to make sure the power stays on long enough for the transfer to take place - and in case the transfer is interrupted it will resume - that's just magic :D

again, this is indispensable

One thing I am wondering is that if the camera battery is dead can you put the card into the USB adapter and still get the automatic wireless/wired upload? I'm not sure if it is intended to work like that but it would be cool if it did - just throw it into any powered USB port - because I do have device rechargers that accept a standard USB cable - this thing is the cats pyjamas for sure

for the person saying it would upload ALL my photos to facebook - um don't people choose what they want to upload ANYWAYS? so sitting there with the client side uploader would be better than logging into facebook and then uploading your photos - this thing saves time and effort period.

to the person griping about their RAW images - make that a suggestion to Eye-Fi for their firmware upgrade - like upload everything from my card to my computer and upload only the jpegs from there or convert them and upload as jpegs - this thing just SCREAMS killer app on both hardware and software

how many company r&d departments are getting FLAMED because they didn't come up with this? PLEASE dear god don't let this company be bought out - keep on getting bigger and diversify the product offerings.

[Pete @ Nov 1st 2007 1:46PM]

Yes, you cam put this into any powered SD slot and it will upload. If I put it in my SD reader built into my laptop it will finish uploading any photos that haven't already transferred.

[Chris Reddy @ Oct 31st 2007 6:22AM]

This finally tries to do what the Kodak Easyshare One did 2 1/2 years ago - with this wi-fi card
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/products/EKN030180.jhtml?pq-path=6635

Although the concept sounds nice, the lack of ability to connect to ANY wifi- network is a real limitation - home networks are ok - but MUCH slower than by cable. Even if it does connect at "G" speeds, slow is slow.

[Cryptarcadian @ Oct 31st 2007 11:39AM]

Does anyone know yet if it supports connecting to ad-hoc wireless networks? I'd love to use the card on a shoot just to have it automatically transfer photos to my nearby laptop, where I can review them on a larger LCD than the one on my camera.

[aerosmith @ Oct 31st 2007 5:42PM]

I wonder how much space the firmware that sits on the SD card would take?

[engadget @ Nov 26th 2007 10:25AM]

This seems like a potentially very useful thing for my luddite parents, who keep buying more SD cards because they can't figure out how to get the pictures off their SD cards and into a useful format.

I'm considering buying them one of these and preconfiguring it for them so that all their photos will just go straight to smugmug or flickr or whatever.

[AverySimonsen @ Jan 17th 2008 5:49AM]

It will be pretty cool when somebody hacks this thing so that data could also go the other way. Imagine one of the new(ish) car stereos with sd slot. Just park the car in proximity to your house and from the comfort of your favorite terminal, transfer music, audio books etc ready for your next trip.

A car battery should be able to power the wifi for quite a while.

[Dilfer @ Apr 22nd 2008 3:30PM]

Please check out Seagates new D.A.V.E. storage pod. Connecting these 2 devices, especially if the Eye/Fi SD could upload video would open up a lot of opportunities.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/consumer_electronics/DAVE/