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Digital Camera Memory Card With Wi-Fi
thefickler writes "A Secure Digital memory card with built-in Wi-Fi networking will allow digital cameras to upload images automatically to home computers and photo-sharing web sites. This product of California-based company Eye-Fi is currently in beta and should be launched later this year. Would you pay $100 for a 2-GB memory card in order to save the hassle of plugging in a USB cable?"
Could this be used to add WiFi to a cellphone with an SD slot? That would be cool...
It there is an easy way to trigger the camera into taking a picture, then maybe you could make a security camera system that had better resolution, auto-focus and etc, than the incredibly crappy cameras used in most systems.
Yes, but what value does that $1.84/month give you over a regular 2GB SD card?
A regular 2GB SD card costs between $15 and $34 (5 year amortized at 4% blah blah blah is $0.28 to $0.63 per month). Essentially the advantage this card adds is not having to get up off your ass and walk 10 feet across the room to get your camera if it's not next to the computer. To me, that's of very little value -- far less than $66-85, especially given how prone SD cards are to getting lost. Then again, this is just me, I'm sure to some people with fatter asses than myself this is a value worth far more than the price difference.
This is a very reasonable gripe. I've secured my network with WPA-Enterprise, and as far as I know none of those fancy wireless-enabled devices (cameras, games consoles, print servers, etc.) support EAP-TLS authentication (where do I store the certificate?). It's a nuisance.
I would pay for it.
Hell, I would pay 100 just for adding the Wi-Fi functionality to my camera.
One of the things I'm really lazy about is connecting the camera to the USB port on my PC. I don't like taking the CF card out because 1) it's basically the same amount of work, and 2) I've heard that sometimes the pins in the camera can be bent during insertion.
In essence it's the same reason why I like to have bluetooth on my cellphone for synchronization: you're just sitting there and synchronize without having to reach for the device or the cables (ok, so maybe you would have to turn on the camera).
It's a lot of fun snapping pictures at a party and having them immediately uploaded where they can be displayed on a big screen and shared with everyone.
I use a mobile device and am uploading pictures almost immediately to my own gallery where ever I am. I need to have E/GPRS and the camera's image quality sucks. For me to be able to upload the same photos to my gallery from nearly wherever I am (with wireless available -- which in this day and age is fairly frequently) would be sweet.
That is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. For the commenter that it's a "selective market", I can't disagree more. It's just that people aren't accustomed to that kind of ability and obviously aren't aware of the advantages.
Wear and tear?
I've never heard anybody complain of wear and tear on a USB cable before. I guess there is a first time for everything.
As for wear and tear on the shutter release button, I would think that your shutter itself would fail before the release button, but what do I know?
Anyhow, if this card is ever released, I will buy one for sure. If anything, to solve the "I don't feel like waiting for 2 GB of images to download over USB" problem. With this, there would be no waiting. The images would already just be there.
For pros, this would be a godsend. Totally eliminates the issue of taking 150 photos to a corrupt card.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
Ding!Ding!Ding! This is exactly what I was excited about. For street photographers or photographers who happen to be shooting the police beating someone, this is an excellent first step.
Unfortunately, it sounds like you have to scope out your area FIRST, to find and configure any public wifi networks onto the card, but it's only a matter of time before they will auto-connect to any open wifi connection.
Once you've got the connection, it's a lot harder for the cops, (or worse - private security guards) to take your gear away and delete your pictures (or have an evidence technician "destroy" the card while "investigating" it). They've all been automatically uploaded to a server outside the reach of your local legal system!
If they come out with a Compact Flash version AND drop the price, Nikon is going to crap their pants. Nikon sells a pricey wifi add-on for their pro cameras that was just rendered obsolete.
Yeah, I'd get one for parties - my D80 takes SD.
Mod up. That is the real benefit to this device. Now you can surrender your memory card without losing any of your photos.
Hands in my pocket