Eye-Fi, that company that let’s you send images from your camera to your computer wirelessly, just announced an upgrade to their software product. Now, instead of just being able to send to your computer, you can send images to your mobile device. And by mobile device, we mean smartphone, tablet, whatever you like.
Put simply, if you have your phone or tablet device with you, Eye-fi will let you take pictures, send those pictures to your device, and allow you to do whatever you need to do with those images.The folks at Eye-Fi are calling this “Direct Mode”. This would make editing pictures with something like your iPad incredibly convenient and quick. Who needs an adapter you plug your card into? Just use the Eye-Fi and send it straight there without having to worry about rather Apple has an adapter for your particular type of memory card or not. The best part about the Direct Mode Eye-Fi? It’s free to people who already have the Eye-Fi X2. If you don’t have an Eye-Fi X2, you can pick one up fairly cheaply (I found a 4 GB version for under $50 pretty quickly), and the Direct Mode software will be free for you too when it’s released later this year.
From the press release:
“For anyone who has ever had to choose between taking great images with their digital camera and the instant gratification of sharing with a smartphone, Direct Mode is the answer,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Eye-Fi. “New technology in the card combined with a free Eye-Fi app on a mobile device means consumers no longer have to compromise between rich, lifelike memories and saving or sharing those memories from anywhere.”
With Direct Mode, photos taken with your digital camera can immediately be sent to your smartphone or tablet. They can be viewed, used with myriad apps on the device, or uploaded and shared.
In addition, photos and videos can automatically and wirelessly be backed up and organized in the consumer’s private Eye-Fi View account. From there, they are accessible for viewing and sharing from any Internet connected device – regardless of which camera they were taken with.
“We have a diversity of devices we use for different purposes,” continued Holove. “Digital cameras are just plain better at taking photos and videos, especially when lighting, action, or zoom distance affect the shot. But, there’s no doubt that the apps, touch interface and always-connected nature of mobile devices are compelling. With this new technology, we are bridging the gap between the camera and mobile, bringing the best of all the devices that we own to the capture and sharing of memories.”
Eye-Fi also extends the browsing and sharing experience by providing a seamless connected imaging experience through its own ecosystem of partners – from leading digital camera makers like Canon, Nikon and Sony to 45 popular photo sharing sites like Facebook, Flickr and Picasa. The result is millions of photos and videos being effortlessly shared from cameras each month.
Direct Mode will be available as a free upgrade to all Eye-Fi X2 cards later in 2011.
For more information, visit www.eye.fi.
Do these cards need cameras specially designed for this or does the card work alone?
They work in most cameras that support SD cards. Some cameras are optimized to support them but any SD capable camera should work. Some people use them in CF cameras with an SD to CF adapter, but sometimes this leads to flaky behavior if the WiFi single gets blocked or the power is not constant to the CF card slot. I’ve got 2 of them now – just upgraded to the X2 Pro and have a Nikon D7000 that supports it – so the card can be controlled via the camera – and the camera tells you when the card is transmitting the photos. Hope this helps.
edit – meant WiFi “Signal” above
Hi there,
Is Direct mode available now? This is very interesting. If it is I will be heading to my nearest camera store for a card.
Nevin
Wonderful blog