Eye-Fi kicks the folder habit, adds iPhoto support

Believe it or not, MacWorld does continue even after Jobs has left the building. In as much, Eye-Fi just announced support for Apple's iPhoto as well as the Safari and Firefox browsers when accessing their web-based Eye-Fi Manager. iPhoto support means you can now capture images from your digital camera to your $99 Eye-Fi 2GB SD card and transmit them directly into the photo management software while on your home WiFi network -- right, no hotspot uploading action for you. Considering photos were previously dumped into a folder (or 19 on-line sites), the free update is definitely a step in the right direction.

[Via TUAW]

[Gorjan @ Jan 16th 2008 8:22AM]

I don't get it. Is the Wi-Fi turned on all the time? That must drain the battery in no-time?

[Nikkoli @ Jan 16th 2008 8:31AM]

I imagine you need to turn it on because it is still very limited in its use. It has to be setup/paired with a specific network (wont work at hot-spot or friends house).

Good Idea in theory, but they really need to improve on its capability for it to be truly useful. I know personally if I am at home, I would rather just put the card into my PC than deal with the wireless.

[Gorjan @ Jan 16th 2008 8:45AM]

True, sounds good in theory, but it's not something I would ever use. It's not that hard to take the card out and put it in the reader on the laptop.

[Chebwa @ Jan 16th 2008 9:18AM]

Unless FORCED to, I can't imagine wanting to deal with wireless as opposed to using cords and plugs. It's not only slower, but also, ALWAYS a bigger pain. The only time I ever use wireless is for my OQO 02, as it would just be too much of a hassle to use an ethernet dongle every single time.

Besides that? Give me a card reader or a cord.

[Chad @ Jan 16th 2008 8:42AM]

I don't get it, was this a Mac-only limitation? I've had mine since Giftmas and I haven't needed to upload to a folder first; the pictures went straight to Flickr. I also had no problems using Firefox. Oh and the software runs just fine under Wine on Ubuntu Linux.

[EMoShunz @ Jan 16th 2008 9:01AM]

you're lucky. wine makes me whine most of the time. i may just buy this now, but really, it's not that hard to plug in my camera, or remove the sd card and plug it into a reader. cool technology though.

[dpslusser @ Jan 17th 2008 12:54AM]

How about for video?

[Chad @ Jan 17th 2008 7:31AM]

It doesn't work with video, yet.

[dan2600 @ Jan 16th 2008 8:55AM]

Still don't get the point of these cards...maybe I'm just not as lazy as the rest of the world to take out my CF card and put it into my reader...I usually have 2, 4 gig cards on me, and never in my life have I come close to filling them up (even when i take my pictures in .RAW)...maybe i need to take more pictures? Comon with a 2 gig card and taking jpegs that is about 1000 picture even at top quality...are you really taking that many photos before uploading? Maybe you then dear reader...should be spending more time enjoying the event rather then documenting it.

I wish they would invest more into making better CCDs (which consumer grade is still crap in my book) rather then this useless trendy crap. Uploading terrible looking pictures doesn't make me any happier.

[Anthony Gentavoe @ Jan 16th 2008 9:01AM]

Interesting idea, but I think it would be more useful if the WiFi functionality were built into the actual camera. As I read their site, the card is configured via your PC, so you can only choose one WiFi network. Great if you are having a party at your house and you want to instantly share your pics (or if you want instant download/backup of what you just shot). But if you are on vacation or away from your PC, it doesn't sound like you can select any available hotspot to upload. Or, am I misunderstanding how it works?

[Dan2700 @ Jan 16th 2008 9:15AM]

Dan2600, As a professional photographer, I will shoot about 8-10gb of photos at a wedding with a 12.8mp camera. I for one love the option to be able to have my photos automatically dumped to a waiting laptop hard drive for safety sake.

I have had CF cards die on me after shooting and the panic you feel after loosing a part of someones wedding that can't be re-done is sickening especially when you're getting paid.

Up until now, the only options for wifi connectivity on high-end DSLR cameras is a $1000 from the manufacturer that does pretty much the same thing eye-fi does. Now this sub-$100 option hits that market and yup, my interest is peaked.

I bought one and it works. It has some severe range issues in my camera, but when I get a pocket router, a now $200 option compaired to the $1000 option is still very apealing.

[Chebwa @ Jan 16th 2008 9:22AM]

"I will shoot about 8-10gb of photos at a wedding with a 12.8mp camera."

Using a 2GB card, regardless of its wireless abilities, probably isn't the ideal solution. This card is going to need to appeal to more than just the occasional professional if it wasnts to succeed.

[dan2600 @ Jan 16th 2008 10:20AM]

These cards only work with Jpegs...your telling me your a professional photographer and are shooting in jpeg and not raw with a 12.8mp camera? Glad your not at my wedding...

Also I have never in my life heard of a CF card Dying...maybe a Microdrive but not a CF card...the reason CF cards are used in the prosumer/professional grade cameras more then the SD cards is for the fact that CF cards are more durable and reliable then other cards...

This card has one group of people in mind, lazy people who just want everything automated...and I'm all for that, but not in the form of some sort of cheap gimmick. Now if it was a camera that would upload raw file format images automatically to your remote computer that would be impressive, but to use this in a iphone to upload your crappy quality photos to your Airmac...useless in my book.

[Dan2700 @ Jan 18th 2008 1:10PM]

Dan2600. Why so hostile? I didn't mean to offend you. I was just letting you know how a product like this interests me as a professional. Several points i must make for you however...

1) I shoot JPG because I like to nail my shot in-camera and not in Photoshop, Lightroom, Apeture or whatever workflow you prefer. RAW is nice, but the lattitiude it gives with regards to exposure and white balance are not needed if you get it right in the camera. Good photographic practices, efficient and effective workflow will negate most advantages RAW has over JPG (at least in the real-world of a successful, working photographer).

2) If you use CF cards in any quantity or frequency, you will (more-than-likely) have the occasional corruption or error. Sometimes it's a couple of pictures, and sometimes it's an entire card. Soemetime you can recover the photos, sometimes you can't. I guess I shouldn't have used the word "died". Sorry. This is why I still shoot 2gb cards. If I have a card hiccup on my, I don't loose an entire event. Only a small part of it.

3) My interest in this card in not to be "lazy", but to bring new options tothe products I give to my brides. For instance, with the photos automatically loaded on my laptop, I can have an assistant sorting them on-site and preparing a slide show of the weedding to be displayed at the wedding. Not to mention the security of having the instant backup.

This is a 1st gen of a procuct like this. Eye-Fi, or other manufacturers will refine and massage these products as most indutries do to theirs. There will eventually be more robust versions for the prosumer/professional with more options and abailities. This is simply first step. Granted this product is aimed at the casual home user, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't have any possible uses to the professional.... Even if you don't "Get the point of these cards". Rest assured others do.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

[Anthony @ Jan 16th 2008 10:41AM]

If they could make this work with video (& larger capacity) I would be more interested. Their approach seems somewhat limited & I imagine more built in options will come this year as it seems 'wireless' is even more of a buzz-word than usual.

[MauMan @ Jan 16th 2008 10:59AM]

Why are people so hostile to this product? From my experience it appeals to the non-technical user who's not interested in keeping track of cables uploading stuff, etc...

I bought one for the convenience and love it. I timed my 3 workflows with the same set of photographs: wireless, card reader, and USB cable. I was surprised to see the wireless was faster than the USB transfer on only a few seconds slower than the card reader. (camera is a Kodak DC280).

For me the nice thing is the automation. I got home from a Christmas party, turned the camera on and set it on my desk. By the time my family got our coats and shoes off and put away the images were on my computer and were being uploaded to flickr. I walked over to my computer and selected a few different batches of photos and sent them off to the various interested family members.

So I'm spending my time doing only the parts that need my intervention. I'm perfectly capably of hooking up a cable or using a card reader but this is much easier. My time is money and it encourages me to be more responsive about getting things like photos out to family members.

My sister in law is ordering one because in the last 3 years she's been through three cameras because she keeps breaking off the door covering the SD card and/or USB port. For her it's definitely worth the money.

If it does not meet your needs by all means don't get one but for a segment of the casual consumer market it's a great product.

[MauMan @ Jan 16th 2008 11:05AM]

My apologies for the egregious typos in my post; I quickly slipped it in between a build-debug cycle and should have proof read it first.

[Chad @ Jan 16th 2008 11:31AM]

I'm a programmer and Linux enthusiast, so I guess that makes me at least a little more technical than the average user, and I love my Eye-Fi. Sure, it's not *that* much of a hassle to pull out a usb cable, or pop the SD card into the reader on my PC, but simply turning the camera on for a bit when I get home is a whole lot easier. Combine it with the recently added photo editing on Flickr, and the pictures never need to sit on my hard drive if I don't want them to. The turnaround for getting shots up on the web so my friends and family can see them is much improved.

[Groale @ Jan 16th 2008 12:29PM]

Convenience is always nice. I have a family and kids. Get home from Disneyland and have to unpack, bring in tired cranky kids and as soon as I pull into my driveway the pictures start transferring to a folder on my PC. So just before they head off to be we can take a quick look at the pictures on the pc, or I can print a picture to give them to take to school the next day. Works for me.

[FThorn @ Jan 16th 2008 2:42PM]

It's very Mac centric. Steve hates wires.