Eye-fiDirectMode
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Eye-Fi Direct Mode is here, turns tablets and smartphones into must-have camera accessories
Eye-Fi promised that its Direct Mode for beaming photos straight from your camera to your smartphone or tablet would land this week, and we're pleased to announce the company has kept its word. Just pop your X2 card into a computer, launch the Eye-Fi Center, and you should be prompted to install the new firmware -- version 4.5022. All you have to do then is install the Eye-Fi app on your Android or iOS device, pair it with your camera (you did remember to put the card back in your camera, right?), and you're ready to rock and/or roll. From then on, any pics you snap with your Eye-Fi-equipped cam will automatically beam themselves to your handheld, and sharing on Picasa or Eye-Fi View is just a tap or two away. If you need a bit of a refresher on what Direct Mode looks like in action, just check out our hands-on from CES.
Eye-Fi's Direct Mode hands-on: from camera to tablet in seconds (video)
We have to say, we're pretty pumped about Eye-Fi's new Direct Mode, and that's not just because it's free -- CEO Jef Holove showed us how his wireless SD cards can fire snapshots from a point-and-shoot camera straight to a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and it looks like a breeze. Once the free update launches later this year, you'll just need to download the Eye-Fi app, and select your Eye-Fi X2 card from a list to permanently pair them -- much like Bluetooth or a WiFi access point -- and then whenever you shoot within range, the pics will automatically spirit themselves to your Android, and can send them to Picasa or Eye-Fi View from there with an additional tap. See Direct Mode do its thing in the video above.
Eye-Fi's Direct Mode unites phone and camera in holy matrimony
The WiFi-enabled SD card wizards at Eye-Fi already have a mobile app kicking around that lets you upload shots from your phone to the cloud, but their relationship with mobile is about to get a whole lot cozier with the introduction of Direct Mode. Basically, Direct Mode lets the Eye-Fi card in your camera communicate directly with your tablet or phone -- with Eye-Fi software installed, of course -- giving you direct and immediate access to the photos that are on your camera without the need to either cable up or first allow the card to upload the images to a photo sharing service before they can be pulled back down on the mobile device. Granted, the cameras inside phones are getting better by the day, but most of them still don't come anywhere near serious point-and-shoot quality -- and that seems to be the angle Eye-Fi's trying to attack here, making it dead simple to share your "real" camera photos just as quickly as you would had you taken them with your phone itself. Look for it as a free upgrade for Eye-Fi's existing line of X2 cards "later in 2011." Free's nice, eh? Follow the break for the press release.
