Toshiba looking to standardize wireless memory cards, crash Eye-Fi's party
By Tim Stevens 
posted June 22nd 2010 7:32AM
posted June 22nd 2010 7:32AM
Toshiba and Trek Establish Forum to Promote SD Cards Embedding Wireless Communication Functions
22 Jun, 2010
Tokyo-Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO-6502) today announced the launch of an industry forum to promote a new SD card that integrates Wi-Fi wireless communication with data storage capabilities. The forum, the "Standard Promotion Forum for Memory Cards Embedding Wireless LAN"* has been founded by Toshiba and Singapore-based Trek 2000 International Ltd..
In recent years, as digital cameras have achieved huge rates of market penetration, the need for quick and easy way to share photographs has grown. The new card offers an innovative solution that brings new capabilities to the already very popular SDHC format.
The card is designed to bring Wi-Fi functionality to digital still cameras that have an SDHC slot. Once in a camera, a card can recognize and communicate with the same type of card in another camera (on a one-to-one basis), and users can exchange photographs quickly and easily. It also allows users to upload and download photographs to and from a server without any need for a cable connection or transfers of the memory card.
The new card is compliant with the SD memory card standard, supports IEEE 802.11b/g and has an 8-gigabyte capacity. It can transfer both JPEG and RAW images, the two most widely used digital formats.
Toshiba and Trek will invite the participation of digital camera manufacturers and other interested parties in promoting the card, and in exchanges of technical information toward establishing standard specifications and expanding the use of the card.
Toshiba is a market leader in the development and manufacture of NAND flash memory, which is indispensable for today's personal digital devices. The company seeks to enhance and expand its memory business by proposing new applications for NAND flash memories.
Features of SD card embedding wireless communication functions
The ability to send and receive image data among digital still cameras equipped with an SDHC slot and the card.
Upload and downloads of digital photographs between a digital still camera equipped with an SDHC slot and the card, and in a Wi-Fi environment, and a server.
User management of image transmission and reception minimizes power consumption compared with current solution.
I am waiting for some Kirf company to create the standard wifi/gps microSD to SD adapter.
I don't get it. Why just simply put wifi into camera?
@kevinxucs
bakuz this is more cool
@kevinxucs I'd rather replace my SD card than replace my camera. This holds particularly true if the camera in question is quite pricey.
@r3loaded
In the 1/million chance the wifi on your camera breaks?
Anyone know if this kind of tech would work in Compact Flash cards?
I know that CF is a far older design than SD, but there's more space in there, and there are a lot of DSLR users (especially in the pro market) who'd love a bit of WiFi action.
@PDoc We've been asking Eye-Fi for this for years.
http://forums.eye.fi/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=391
Can they instead try and make SDHC cheaper? I'll put up with card readers if I need to.
So instead of using faster and coast effective way of using usb cable directly with portable devices or putting memory cards in the reader, they want us to buy this so that we can do expensive and slower transfer?
I don't get it. In order to use this tech, you'll have to be near computer most of the time anyway.
The concept is great if you are a pro photographer with a studio. Gets rid of one step for you. For everyone else, I'm not sure of the full benefit. But creating a standard isn't a bad idea. Of course, most DSLRs have a grip add-on that adds WiFi already.
Yay!!!
No more quick transfers with that super annoying usb cable (ugh), now you can transfer 2GB worth of RAW images with super speeds from 802.11b/g. I'm sure the antenna in the microSD card will be super powerful too! YES!
As a photo hobbyist, this technology is great when you are taking shots anywhere. Just think walking the rim of the grand canyon or taking shots during a indy race, you can be uploading shots to your server and then your server uploads to your flickr/facebook page.
People can follow your adventures, keep family up to date and so on. Not to mention if you are doing this and a card fails your pictures are not lost.
I have my laptop set to upload pic if on and my Android phone rooted for wifi tether so I have ability to upload from my eyfi at anytime.
So yes there is a need, just like there is a need to surf the web from our phones.
@URJAFO
What we really need is a android app that picks up the images from the camera and uploads them minus the laptop.
@bp968 My eyfi card does that. I plug my card into my PC one time, turn on wifi-tether on my phone. Once the card sees it I set it to auto load from that source.
So if I am taking pics out an about I flip on wifi-tether on my phone and my card then uses it to upload to my home server and flickr.
I only use my laptop if I want to view some shots on a larger screen as I take them.
Anyone who uploads photos directly to their internet, from a camera without processing, should be slapped.
WiFi to local hard drives would be great, though.
@Smurf and do tell, why you would say that?
If it is the fact you have not had a chance to look at them and edit or delete the ones you do not like, all my photos are uploaded and are set as my eyes only by default.
But yes you can setup a adhoc connection on your laptop (Or whatever) and load them locally as well. (Laptop gets stolen and your a goner)