Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

Talk about timing. Just as I was looking forward to see more connected cameras, up comes Eye-fi with a free upgrade to their existing X2 cards. Direct Mode allows the transfer of images from camera to phones using WiFi. This is something I've been looking forward to, as I cannot rely on getting a decent camera in my phones, and using a standalone to share quick photos is a real pain as it stands. Look for the upgrade to come later this year; in the meantime, Nikon, please keep the second slot on the D400 a SD card slot, alright? Thanks!

"Eye-Fi today launched Eye-Fi View, giving people a new way to access their photos and videos from virtually any computer or mobile device. By simply logging into their Eye-Fi account from any device, users can view photos or publish them on the web."

Given that Eye-Fi supports direct publishing to various photo sharing services like Flickr and social media services like Facebook, I'm not seeing the point of this. Maybe someone can enlighten me?

"We're big fans of Eye-Fi's wireless memory cards, which enable you to toss that card reader out the window and download all your pictures wirelessly. So far Eye-Fi is about the only player in that little niche, but Toshiba's looking to blow it wide open with charmingly titled "Standard Promotion Forum for Memory Cards Embedding Wireless LAN," which could be given the equally catchy abbreviation SPFfMCEWLAN (a name that is, thankfully, subject to change)."

Yeah, the party is over for Eye-Fi. Hopefully, with the branding they've gained over the years, they will be able to stay in the forefront, and as long as their service remains fast and reliable, they have a shot of sticking around. Of course, supporting the N standard would be nice. With cameras getting more and more megapixelish, transferring photos seems to take longer every day. While a standard might be useful, I am unsure as to whether it will unseat the king of "unlimited" SD card storage for photos.

"Eye-Fi has announced the addition of two wireless SD cards into its X2 line-up of memory cards. The 4GB Connect X2 and 8GB Explore X2 both feature the Endless Memory Mode first seen in the RAW-compatible Pro X2 card. They also share its class 6 (6MB/s ) transfer speeds and high-speed 802.11n Wi-Fi. In addition, the Explore card uses location data from nearby WiFi points to geotag images."

Dpreview.com has picked up a press release for the new additions to the Eye-Fi X2 line of wireless SD cards, which now consists of three models, ranging in price from $49.99 to $149.99, and in native storage capacity from 4 to 8 GB. At first glance the price seems a bit stiff, but the cards offer a variety of features and I find it amazing that they are able to cram both storage and WiFi capabilities within a standard size SD card! Eye-Fi also offers a line of "Classic Cards" which lack several of the X2 line's features, including the Endless Memory programming. As hinted at by the above photos, the initial set up is done by connecting to your computer via an included USB reader, after which the card itself is inserted into your compatible camera: the Eye-Fi website provides a list of compatible models, including a number that provide enhanced capabilities. If you carry a wireless computer, or routinely find WiFi hotspots in your travels, this might be an attractive technology. Would be interested in hearing from any of our readers who have tried these out: Do they work as well as advertised?