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Eye-Fi Cards Jump to 4GB, Now Upload Videos

Andy Salisbury — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:54:11 -0600

If you’re any kind of fan of adding WiFi to your digital camera, you may want to check out Eye-Fi’s latest cards, which will double the previous storage cap and add support for uploading videos.

The new versions are the 4GB Explore Video, which will run you $100 and the 4GB Share Video, for only $80. The Explore will automatically geotag photos and videos for you, and offers hotspot access at over 10,000 locations. The Share loses the ability to geotag, and only allows users to send photos and videos to the Web and your home computer.

These new cards are available today. If you’re not looking for all of the fancy frills and are happy with the 2GB space limit, you get the old cards for only $50.

Image Credit: Eye-Fi

Eye-Fi Explore

Gordon Mah Ung — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:00:00 -0600

When we reviewed Eye-Fi’s original wireless SD card (March 2008), our verdict was that this device, which lets you automatically upload images to the Internet via Wi-Fi, was a cool gee-whiz item hurt by a number of flaws. This update fixes those weaknesses and turns this wireless card into a must-have item for photo-sharing.

The original card worked with only secured access points that you had to program in manually. With the Explore, if you take a photo at the park and then walk into the range of one of the 10,000 supported hot spots (you get one year of free access; subsequent years cost $20), the camera will automatically start uploading your pics to the photo-sharing website of your choice. Even better, walk near an unsecured access point and the Explore will climb aboard and upload your photos from there.

You can either access just your secured access points or turn on open hotspot support, but there’s no way to limit which open access points the card will seek out—and using an open access point without permission is against the law in some states. The card’s geotagging feature isn’t perfect either. The tags are not based on GPS coordinates; rather, they’re based on a survey of Wi-Fi networks by Skyhood Wireless. The company claims to have millions of access points mapped, but that won’t help you if you’re standing on top of Half Dome at Yosemite.

Even with these problems, the Eye-Fi Explore is damned cool. For users of the original card, a firmware update adds the geotagging and hotspot support, so there’s no reason to upgrade.

Now if Eye-Fi could increase the storage capacity beyond 2GB and make a Compact Flash version we’d be even happier.

Eye-Fi Gets Twittering, RSSing with New Manager Update

Mark Edward Soper — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:40:30 -0500

The Eye-Fi line of Wi-Fi enabled SD cards just keeps getting more social. The October update of the Eye-Fi Manager, in addition to adding à la carte support for geotagging, webshare, and hotspot access service updates, also adds support Twitter and RSS integration. You can use Twitter to tell your contacts when you have new photos posted on line, and RSS support enables you to publish pictures in real-time to your preferred RSS aggregator.

Eye-Fi now offers cards through its online store as well as at an ever-growing list of retailers.

RSS logo courtesy Variawa.co.za.

Eye-Fi Users, Circle October 5th for Big Changes

Mark Edward Soper — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:03:25 -0500

At Photokina this week, Eye-Fi, makers of the first Wi-Fi-enabled SD cards, announced two improvements to its product family effective October 5th:

First, a firmware update will double the photo transfer speed from Eye-Fi cards from the current 350KBps to 700KBps.
Second, users of Eye-Fi cards will be able to add the photo transfer features of their choice to cards that were not bundled with these features.

Here are the new options:

Users of the entry-level Eye-Fi Home card can add web sharing for $9.99/year, making the card equivalent in features to the Eye-Fi Share card.
Users of the Eye-Fi Home or Share card can add geotagging for $14.99/year.
And, users of the Eye-Fi Share card can add automatic uploading at open hotspots or at Wayport hotspots (there are over 10,000 of those) for $14.99/year.

By adding geotagging and hotspot support, users of Eye-Fi Share cards make these cards equivalent to Eye-Fi Explore cards.

The already long list of online photo sharing services Eye-Fi supports now includes Apple's MobileMe and AdoramaPix, effective immediately. Eye-Fi cards are now being bundled with digital cameras at Wal-Mart.com, and will be available at Best Buy stores starting October 5.

What do you think about the ability to add the features you want to Eye-Fi cards? Click Comment to tell us what you think.

New Nikon D90 Features Better Eye-Fi Connected Features

Mark Edward Soper — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:28:52 -0500

Eye-Fi, whose line of Wi-Fi-enabled SD cards caught our attention earlier this year, is back in the news: the new Nikon D90 DSLR joins its stablemate, the D60, as the second Eye-Fi-enabled camera.

What's New in the D90?

The D90, which makes its formal bow at Germany's Photokina trade show in late September, adds the ability to temporarily disable Eye-Fi transfer functions through the camera menu; a useful feature in hospitals, airplanes, or anywhere else where you want to prevent images from flying through the ether.

The D90 also features a 12.3MP image sensor, an optional geo-tagging module, Live View, face priority AF, and a 24-fps 720p movie mode, the first movie mode in any DSLR.

Other News from Eye-Fi

Users of any Eye-Fi Share or Eye-Fi card in any camera can also enjoy free geotagging and hotspot access by joining the photo-sharing site SmugMug, in a deal announced earlier this month.

How about it, DSLR fans? Does improved Eye-Fi support make you more likely to preorder a D90? Click the comment button and tell us what you think.

Eye-Fi Wireless SD Cards Get More Social, Easier to Buy

Mark Edward Soper — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:05:47 -0500

We first looked at the Eye-Fi wireless SD flash memory card back in February, and liked its easy uploading and support for photo-sharing sites like Flickr. This week, Eye-Fi announced new partnerships with Nikon's my Picturetown, Adobe's Photoshop Express, and made its cards available at Circuit City. Here are the details.

Nikon and Eye-Fi

While Nikon already supports wi-Fi wireless uploading to my Picturetown from its Coolpix S50c, S51c, and S52c, the built-in support in Eye-Fi Share and Explore cards enables users of any Nikon camera that uses SD media to transfer pictures automatically to my Picturetown.

Nikon has also worked with Eye-Fi in the design of its new D60 DSLR camera. The D60 adjusts its power levels when using an Eye-Fi card for better wireless uploading.

Shoot Them and They Will Come (to Your Favorite Sites)

Eye-Fi Share and Explore cards now support Adobe Photoshop Express as well as over 20 other photo sharing sites, including Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, Snapfish, Windows Live, and many others.

Easy to Use, Easier to Find

Eye-Fi Share cards are now available at Circuit City stores and the Circuit City website.

Eye-Fi by the Numbers

In our original February review, we reviewed the Eye-Fi Share card, but Eye-Fi actually make three different lines of 2GB SD cards with Wi-Fi radios:

The entry-level Eye-Fi Home card ($79.99 MSRP) connects wirelessly to Wi-Fi-equipped home computers or the user's iPhoto account.
The Eye-Fi Share card ($99.99 MSRP) connects wirelessly to Wi-Fi-equipped home computers or the user's choice of photo sharing websites.
The Eye-Fi Explore card ($119.99 MSRP) adds geotags to your pictures and supports uploading from over 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots

Easy Photo Transferring and Sharing - What's It Worth to You?

Eye-Fi cards command a hefty price premium over standard 2GB SD cards, but they can save you a lot of time and effort. What say you? If you're already using Eye-Fi cards, tell us how they're doing for you. If you're new to the idea, let us know if you think the features are worth the money.