Eye-Fi: 1GB + Wi-Fi to Go!

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.eye.fi/' target='_blank'>http://www.eye.fi/</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20060502-EyeFi.jpg" /><br /><br />Just when you thought those memory + Wi-Fi combo cards were dead, you get slapped with a new one - a smaller, better one. So, at this stage, the Eye-Fi looks like it may just be limited for use in digital cameras only. But the point is, the technology is out there, and it's probably only a matter of time before companies start producing 1GB + Wi-Fi cards for PDAs, and possibly in an even smaller form factor (e.g. miniSD). And if not, then heck, it's good to dream, anyway. ;)

[ricksfiona]

Whoah 8O This is very cool...

[JwY]

they probably won't be as popular with pdas anymore since most come with wifi built-in now
maybe some smartphones could use them though

[JNCoKiLLa]

that's true most smart phones like my 700W don't

[Sven Johannsen]

And if not, then heck, it's good to dream, anyway. ;)Looks to me like that is pretty accurate. Don't see a product on that site...just a vision. I can photoshop up a 4G mini-SD with 802.11G and WiMax too.

I have to consider what this would require in the way they en-vision it. Note that they have it in a camera so you can wiFi to the PC. Any of your cameras that take SD have SDIO slots and an OS that can support loading drivers and new software to manage the transfer over WiFi?

I'd venture to guess that if this existed, there wouldn't be a camera you could put it in.

[JohnJohn]

oooo "Treo700 completer"

[atrain]

Doubt theres any camera that would support that any time soon...

But if nobody starts to think of this kind of thing, no camera ever will...
we need products like this to get camera manufactors to open up and implement SDIO and driver support... maybe even SDKs and 3rd party games + stuff...

Sven: "up a 4G mini-SD with 802.11G and WiMax"
Thats it? My 16TB 802.11n / WiMax / BT card with a built-in dual core intel CPU pwnz that! And wheres the 7.1 audio + TV tuner + FM transmitter! ;)
Unfortunatly it has to be SD cause theres no room to right all that on an mini-SD card... :P

[surur]

This is not a traditional sd wifi card. It contains its own logic, and acts independently of the camera, automagically uploading your pictures to the internet once it detects a wifi connection. I dont think its meant to have any user interface on the camera at all.

I expect the camera sees it as just another memory card. When it has new pictures added, and the power is still on it tries to connect via a wifi connection and then uploads your pictures via predefined settings. Then hopefully it switches the wifi off until you take some more photos. Then rinse and repeat.

Its an interesting idea, but I expect it will drain your battery like nothing, even if it just looks for an open connection after new pictures are taken. It has apparently been tested by a few reviewers such as Scoeble and ?Mossberg and they came away impressed.

Surur

[Snail]

Looks fantastic... just a shame that these dual purpose cards won't work with my Jam :bad-words: (unless anyone knows otherwise?)

[Darius Wey]

Don't see a product on that site...just a vision. I can photoshop up a 4G mini-SD with 802.11G and WiMax too.

Yeah, the site is lacking any sort of detail, though if you visit this page (http://laughingsquid.com/2006/04/28/eye-fi/) and the associated Flickr album, there is a prototype out in the wild.

[Darius Wey]

It contains its own logic, and acts independently of the camera, automagically uploading your pictures to the internet once it detects a wifi connection.

Cool word. Is that a typo or...? :lol:

[Darius Wey]

Looks fantastic... just a shame that these dual purpose cards won't work with my Jam :bad-words: (unless anyone knows otherwise?)

Which cards have you tried? I have heard cases of SanDisk's 256MB + Wi-Fi SDIO card acting strangely in the JAM - specifically, the storage portion of the card not being recognised.

[surur]

It contains its own logic, and acts independently of the camera, automagically uploading your pictures to the internet once it detects a wifi connection.

Cool word. Is that a typo or...? :lol:

No way. Automagically is a perfectly cromulent word.

Found 2 hits - Term: automagically, Database: *, Strategy: exact

[1] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)
automagically /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ adv. automatically, but in a way
that, for some reason typically because it is too complicated, or too
ugly, or perhaps even too trivial, the speaker doesn't feel like
explaining to you. see magic. "the c-intercal compiler generates c,
then automagically invokes `cc1' to produce an executable."

this term is quite old, going back at least to the mid-70s in jargon
and probably much earlier. the word `automagic' occurred in advertising
for a shirt-ironing gadget as far back as the late 1940s.


see also:
magic

[2] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)
automagically

/aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ or /aw-toh-maj'i-kl-ee/
automatically, but in a way that, for some reason typically
because it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even
too trivial, the speaker doesn't feel like explaining to you.

e.g. "the c-intercal compiler generates c, then automagically
invokes cc to produce an executable."

see magic.

jargon file

2001-05-18


see also:
cc magic jargon file

http://www.dictionaryofwords.com/automagically_pag1.html

Surur

[atrain]

What about wep + wpa? Is it gonna upload your pics to your neighbor? Is SSID configurable? I assume it will have a client/server system for uploading directly to the computer, so it could attempt to connect to every network it sees and try, still not that efficent...
I assume it will only send new pics that were taken since last connection time...

Is there an easy way to disable it when your on vacation away from your network, or is it gonna attempt to connect every 30 seconds and drain your battery... actualy: does anyone still use the lock button? just use that as a wifi switch!

[ctmagnus]

I assume that this would require a desktop with an SD reader to do any configuration of the card. So, if my assumption is correct, it'd be possible to set the card to connect to only your network.

[Sven Johannsen]

We are attributing a lot of capability to a card that has to be the same size as a regular SD. Can't stick out like ALL current WiFi, with or without memory, SDIO cards do. Camera doors won't close. How about someone just build a WiFi SD card that doesn't stick out of a PPC.

[Snail]

Looks fantastic... just a shame that these dual purpose cards won't work with my Jam :bad-words: (unless anyone knows otherwise?)

Which cards have you tried? I have heard cases of SanDisk's 256MB + Wi-Fi SDIO card acting strangely in the JAM - specifically, the storage portion of the card not being recognised.

Yep. Exactly what I found with the SanDisk Wi-Fi / 256MB card. Wi-Fi was fine, but no storage at all. I'd heard that it was because the Jam doesn't support SDIO Now!, which I guess would make sense.

Shame really, I'd love to be able to use a GPS/storage solution :cry: