Eyefi Launches Wi-Fi Memory Cards Into the Cloud

Nikon's digital camera Coolpix series when they launched back in 2007.

Image: Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press

By Samantha Murphy Kelly-566304 seconds ago

You’d think most new digital cameras would come with built-in Wi-Fi these days, but only 46% of those that ship in 2014 will have the ability to connect to the Internet.
And sure, there's no denying you can take better quality photos on digital cameras — compared to what’s typically found on a smartphone — but there’s something to say for the convenience of sharing photos directly from a mobile device.

See also: 7 Ways You're Killing Your Tech

Eyefi, the maker of Wi-Fi SD memory cards (and used to be named "Eye-Fi"), has long turned digital cameras into wireless hotspots, but it’s now offering a full cloud-based storage service called Eyefi Cloud. This means you’ll be able to snap photos on a digital camera and instantaneously access them across all platforms — not just your smartphone and tablets, but the web, too. And your pics will stay there.

Image: Eyefi

Previously, Eye-Fi users could transfer through the cloud, but the service more like a relay to send the photos to a photo service or computer. Last year, Eyefi added instant image transfer from its cards to mobile devices with the launch of its Mobi wireless SD memory card.
The price of the Eyefi Mobi SD card stays the same ($49 for 8B), but it now comes with three months of the cloud service for free. Twelve-month memberships start at $49 for an unlimited number of photos.

With the membership, after setup and as soon as you take some photos with a digital camera equipped with Eyefi, they'll appear across various services and devices.

With the membership, after setup and as soon as you take some photos with a digital camera equipped with Eyefi, they'll appear across various services and devices. You can manage the photos and albums either via an accompanying app or through the website. Setup is easy and relatively intuitive. Eyefi works with all the major DSL camera manufacturers — Canon, Nikon, Casio and so on, which install the firmware into their products — so the connected SD cards work directly with them when inserted. On some models, a flashing Wi-Fi symbol signals that the camera is reading the card.
You'll then want to download the Eyefi app, register for an account and then sync the devices you want to the service. You can then go in and share photos and albums with others, as well as make labels and sort by date. A handy feature in the "share" section lets you keep track of who's viewed the pictures, if — for example — you were to post a link to your Facebook profile page.

Image: Eyefi

Existing Mobi SD card users can also get a free trial membership too (and the previous card model is the same as the new one, with a bit of new packaging and design colors).
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Topics: eye-fi, Mobile, Tech