The market for wireless imaging has had its starts and stops in recent years but a new product from Mountain View, California-based Eye-Fi Inc., could have a strong impact on that market in eth coming months. The company has just announced a wireless SD memory card for digital cameras. The Eye-Fi Card uses home Wi-Fi networks to create, what they are calling, “an effortless and convenient way for users to send photographs directly from digital cameras to PCs, Macs and online photo and social networking sites.” The card is priced at $99.99 with 2GB of storage and the company has rolled the card out to all of the major online retailers.
“Digital cameras have made it extremely easy to take pictures, but the rest of the process is a hassle,” said Jef Holove, chief executive officer of Eye-Fi. “The Eye-Fi Card removes the barriers and lets users get to the fun part of sharing and printing their memories. We’re putting the magic back into photography.”
The user actually sets the card up through their PC prior to use in the camera. The Eye-Fi card is configured to access a user’s wireless home network. Consumers choose a folder on the computer where new images will be stored and an online destination (up to 17 of the most popular are part of the Eye Fi network) where photos can be uploaded. When the card is inserted in the camera, and the camera is turned on and in range of the network, images stored on the card will be automatically sent to the computer and the Web. We were recently treated to a demo in Eye Fi’s New York offices and the card worked perfectly. The transfer can handle full-resolution JPEGs and intelligently resizes the images if required by the selected online destination.
As mentioned, the Eye-Fi card uses home wireless networks to eliminate the need of cables, card readers or software plug-ins, items usually associated with uploading photos and for many consumers, general confusion. The Eye-Fi Card works with existing and new SD-compatible digital cameras and stores photos like a conventional SD memory card.
“We know that a large percent of digital images captured each day are never printed or shared. That adds up to significant lost revenues for photo sharing and printing sites,” said IDC analyst Ron Glaz. “We anticipate wireless cameras will fundamentally change the way people manage their digital photographs in the future and believe that the Eye-Fi Card will help drive these changes.”
With products like this starting to hit the market, wireless imaging may be about to move into the fast lane. Visit www.eye.fi to find out more.
