Eye-Fi: Give Your Camera Wi-Fi Connectivity

Monday, October 02, 2006

I usually don't forward signups for beta stuff because there's usually so many damn things to try out, but the upcoming Eyefi card is something I'm genuinely excited about. It's not yet-another-web-2.0-widget-thingy website - it's hardware, an sd memory card with built-in wifi, intended for digital cameras to automatically upload images to a computer through a normal wireless network. I signed up for the mailing list back in April when I saw the Techcrunch review and just like Michael Arrington wrote up, I'm getting one the second it's available.

I can see the Eyefi card being super useful - no more messy cables at home, no more "sorry, I can't just dump these pics on your laptop without a USB dingledongle" excuses, just plain photo sharing fun. I could have used one of those cards as recently as two weeks ago, when my mom visited and we took a bunch of pictures around town - we could have dumped all of them on my computer right before she left. And I wonder if I could beam a pic to a friend's Treo?

It looks like the card will be pretty easy to use from other in-person reviews (Scoble, LaughingSquid). From their FAQ page:

Q: Will I need to upgrade my camera for the Eye-Fi card to function correctly?
A: No camera upgrade is required. If your camera has been qualified by Eye-Fi, the card will “just work”.

The beta program hasn't quite kicked off yet - I should get a press kit when it does and I'll post more info when I do.

elsewhere on the web: , , , , , ,

No problem, Courtney. And something I forgot to reply to in your email - don't worry about price so much, it won't be as bad as you think, maybe around the range of $100? The final price hasn't been disclosed yet, I think they're still nailing down partnerships with suppliers and camera partners, but regardless, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a fancy camera with wifi built in already.
# posted by Blogger Al : 9:48 AM :  

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