Python-Based Server Lets Eye-Fi Users Skip Company's Software

gollito writes "Coder Jeff Tchang has developed software written with python that allows users to download pictures from the Eye-Fi card rather than having to use the eye-fi manager software. Running the script at intervals would allow for real time updates to an online gallery." At least one user has responded to the release of this software by getting it (after a bit of tweaking) to run on Ubuntu Linux, and another says it works with BSD. I hope the people at Eye-Fi see this as a good thing, rather than reason for a knee-jerk cease-and-desist letter; when I asked about Linux support at the most recent CES, I was given a good-natured shrug and a reasonable hand-wave: approximately, "We just don't have the developer time for that when most of our users are on other platforms."

Comments

What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[guruevi]

A memory card with Wi-Fi built in and bad driver support somebody wrote a Python script for. Other than being over expensive (both in pocket and on battery) and unnecessary for most high-end camera's (since they have it already built-in or aren't in range of any wi-fi when shooting) I don't see the need for it nor do I see many uses elsewhere.

This is Slashdot, the marketing and publicity channel of non-news for gadget freaks.

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[TheGratefulNet]

I shoot semi-pro photography. I do studio shots and 'tethering' is a PITA.

a wireless (a good one!) solution is needed.

however, this device aint it ;(

its sd-card only (pros tend to use CF cards). it does not support raw (why even bother then?). its slow and its gimmicky.

the idea is good but it needs a TRUE solution, not this ugly hack. good first POC though.

soon, though, cam companies will build in their own wi-fi, so this 'card stuff' has limited time before its irrelevant.

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[Smidge204]

I've known about the Eye-fi card for awhile. It strikes me as an interesting trinket but, as you said, not the most groundbreaking tech ever.

What interests me, especially with this recent development, is a potential use in something other than a camera. Cameras are not the only devices that use SD cards for storage, after all. With this script, though, it may be a simple way to hard-hack a wireless connection into some homebrew embedded device.

I'm still not clear if it can download data TO the card instead of just uploading to an external source... that would make it a lot more useful.
=Smidge=

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[The Phantom Mensch]

Sure, the camera companies will build wi-fi in their cameras at some point. But do you want to buy a new $1000 camera body just to get one with a $25 wi-fi chipset built-in? That's how the camera companies will solve this problem.

Is the JPEG limitation in this a function of how the Eye-fi firmware works or something that can be fixed in the Python script?

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[mrchaotica]

I think some people complain because they do want a product similar to the one being discussed, but the product has some particular flaw that screws it up. They're frustrated because they almost found exactly what they wanted, but failed.

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[fm6]

Oh please. It's a perfectly good idea, even though EyeFi has kind of bungled the implementation. The fact that hackers are hacking it should tell you something.

The use case they talk about in the advertising is a pretty common one. A bunch of people get together for a big social event, like a wedding, and take lots of pictures. Everybody promises to share their pictures, but what with absent-mindedness and the hassle of uploading big jpegs, it never happens. Wouldn't it be nice if everybody could see the pictures right after they're taken, and grab the ones they like? Makes the event more fun, too.

My use case is more serious. I write technical documentation for computer hardware, and I sometimes have to take photos of said hardware for the illustrators to work from. I suck as a photographer, so it'd be really nice if pictures just got automatically transferred to my tablet so I check each one right after it's taken. If you have to plug in the camera or transfer the SD card, it's too inconvenient to check until you've accumulated a bunch of photos.

The flaw (as of when I tried it over a year ago; perhaps it's improved since) in that use case is that the stupid EyeFi can't interface with networks that require any kind of authentication. That leaves out secured networks, and also the typical hotspot, where, even if it's free, they generally make you go to the providers' web site at least once before they let you on the web. (The WiFi network where I work is unsecured, but you have to login with via the provider's web site before you can use it.) So basically, the thing is only useful if you provide your own access point. What's needed is a way to network it directly to your computer.

Hmm, run a router on my tablet? Have to think about it.

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[corsec67]

Personally, I'd much rather cameras have GPS instead of Wi-Fi, so that they can automatically fill in the EXIF location data for the photos.

That would only work if your camera was on for long periods of time, and had a constant view of the sky. Plus I get the best reception when I leave my GPS on the dashboard of the vehicle I am in, and leaving a camera powered on the dashboard of a firetruck seems like a very bad idea, while my GPS can handle that no problems. Also, having a separate GPS lets me use it for multiple cameras, since I might not be able to get a GPS built into every kind of camera I want with me.

When I am taking pictures that I want to have the GPS data in the EXIF, I have a GPS running all day that I keep with me, and then at night I correlate the times from the pictures with the locations from the GPS using gpscorrelate. It takes in a GPX and a list of the pictures, so I can do all of the pictures I took all day and correlate them very quickly, even if they were taken with different cameras.

There is a compact camera with GPS, the Nikon P6000, but it has to lock on to the satellites when you turn it on, which can take a while, especially if reception is weak.

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[Mr. Firewall]

I don't see the need for it nor do I see many uses elsewhere.

Not a pro, eh?

Think event photography. For an example, think youth sports. You're shooting a game with an eye-fi card while an associate runs the laptop. Parents come up to your table and order prints, which your associate cranks out right there on the spot.

And while your associate is doing the dirty work (i.e., collecting filthy lucre), you just keep on shooting the game.

Need I say, "3. Profit!"?

It's very useful, to a wide range of pros. Of course, no pro in zir right mind is going to run Linux on that laptop, but there's no question how much money the card itself can make for you.

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[TheGratefulNet]

And we'll all throw the perfectly good cameras we own in the trash bin in order to upgrade?

if you want new features that need hardware, yes.

with digicams, they are throw-away, so that's one case.

the other case is with slrs and here, the investment (long term) is lenses, not bodies. this isn't film and bodies are NOT long-term anymore. (leica is not quite thinking that, with their m8 body SO expensive and already uncompetitive since sensor and cpu tech advances but their body doesn't. not really.)

what I object to is having to trash lenses if the brand didn't think far enough ahead or introduced something short-term and fooled us into thinking it was not a mid-solution. case in point, contrast focus vs phase-detect (slr style) focus. with new movie-cam features in slrs, you need contrast focus and mirror flip-less focusing. older lenses didn't 'do this well' if at all. you have to REBUY your lenses to get this new feature.

hopefully this won't happen TOO often, but its more tolerable that we upgrade our bodies than our lenses.

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[Eponymous Bastard]

Then it sounds like you need a camera and GPS with bluetooth. They can talk to each other and fill in location data in real-time, and if you're in a studio or near your laptop, it can upload the pictures in the background.

You could even use it as a phone camera, or for videoconferencing, or whatever you want. Bluetooth is pretty standard for tethering like this.

Wifi is only useful if you want to upload directly to the internet. That's not always the best solution

Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care?

[Deanalator]

iphones put GPS data in the exif data of any picture you take.

That name is so 2008...

[orkybash]

Gotta get it changed to Yfy.

Re:That name is so 2008...

[Chyeld]

I think Yfying is something completely different from the discussed device and most people prefer to bleach their eyes should they accidently encounter it.

Maybe they aren't very big

[Anonymous Coward]

TFA talks about the company not having enough developers to support a non-Microsoft OS. Maybe they don't have much resources for anything.

I went to the company site linked in TFA and got the following message:

// Provide alternate content for browsers that do not support scripting // or for those that have scripting disabled. Alternate HTML content should be placed here. This content requires the Adobe Flash Player. Get Flash

They didn't have the time to properly test their website and we're seeing a message from a template (that should have been removed). I've seen this kind of thing before. A company doesn't have the resources to do the job right and rushes the product out the door just to survive. It sure rings all the alarm bells for me.

Re:Maybe they aren't very big

[PPH]

A company doesn't have the resources to do the job right and rushes the product out the door just to survive. It sure rings all the alarm bells for me.

It sounds familiar to me. Like some little fly-by-night s/w outfit in Redmond.

Troll mod in 3...2...1

feature

[The Cisco Kid]

I havent looked at it yet (I will) but what I'd like to see is the ability to *upload* files to the card. The application would be putting it in a digital picture frame (which would be in a different room than where the computers were) and be able to add photos to it without having to physically go get the SD card and apply sneakernet.

C&D in 3, 2, 1 ...

[wiredlogic]

From their website it looks like they are selling the same product at three different price points with the only differentiator being the included software features. A cross-platform solution that allows one to bypass this scheme may induce their lawyers to shit the proverbial brick and send out a reflexive C&D order to combat such a nuisance.

Re:C&D in 3, 2, 1 ...

[cortesoft]

It looks like they are slightly different in the hardware department as well. For one, there are 2 different sizes (2G and 4G), and the high end one looks like it has access information for 10,000 hot spots built in (although I am doubtful about how useful those would be). It actually doesn't appear that there is any difference in the desktop software, just on the card and for external services (the geotagging thing on the high end one).

Of course, they probably will still sue, because you could probably compete with a third party geotagging service or something.

Re:has developed a software

[Red Flayer]

Hey, speakinh of twats, why not read the OP more closely?

He specified the use of an indefinite article. "Die" is a definite article. Even in German, one would not use "Eine software".

ceace and desist

[FunkyELF]

I hope the people at Eye-Fi see this as a good thing, rather than reason for a knee-jerk cease-and-desist letter

From looking at their 3 different models it seems that the only difference between the bottom two models is software running on the PC, so this could effectively turn a $50 card into a $60 card. Doubt they would be happy about that.