Eye-Fi

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an Eye-Fi card for sale in Tokyo, February 2010

Eye-Fi is a company based in Mountain View, California that produces SD memory cards and SDHC cards with Wi-Fi capabilities. Using an Eye-Fi card inside a camera, one can wirelessly and automatically upload digital photos to a local computer (running Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X) or a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet (running iOS or Android). By default, every single picture is wirelessly uploaded to Eye-Fi servers.[1] Some models also allow for uploading photos to photo sharing, blogging and social networking sites such as Flickr, Picasa, Facebook and PhotoBucket;[2] and some models also allow for uploading videos, both to a personal computer or mobile device and to YouTube.[3]

Eye-Fi currently produces three models of WiFi SD cards: "Connect X2" (4 GB), "Mobile X2" (8 GB) and "Pro X2" (8 GB or 16[4] GB). The older and now discontinued models include "Explore X2", "Geo X2", "Pro", "Geo", "Home/Video", "Share/Video", "Explore Video" and also an "Anniversary Edition". With the exception of speed and storage capacity on the X2 models, every wireless memory card features the same technical specifications and only vary in the additional services provided with it (e.g. "WebSharing", "Geotagging", "Hotspot", etc.).[5]

The upload is via the Eye-Fi server which has full visibility of the photos and the associated user name and password . The server then uploads to the user's storage site and sends the user an email to notify them that the photos have been uploaded to their storage site .

"Share" versions allow uploading to various photo-sharing websites. The "Share Video" card allows uploading videos as well. The "Pro" adds raw image support and peer-to-peer or ad-hoc networking.[6] The "Pro X2" added class 6 read & write speeds, 802.11n and a new feature named "Endless Memory Mode" that automatically deletes images from the card after they are delivered to their intended destination; all of these have since been migrated to the Connect X2 and Mobile X2.

Certain cards offer photo geotagging (WPS) through relationships with Google and hotspot access through relationships with various providers. The location is not locally recorded in conventional Exif coordinate form, but is inserted into Exif upon upload.[7] The Pro X2 ships with both free lifetime geotagging and 1 year of free hotspot access, as did the Explore X2. The Geo X2 offered free lifetime geotagging, but not free hotspot access. Other models can be upgraded (for a fee) to include both features.

Contents

History [edit]

Eye-Fi was founded in 2005 by Yuval Koren, Ziv Gillat, Eugene Feinberg and Berend Ozceri.[8] Jef Holove became the CEO in September 2007,[9] with Yuval Koren taking over in May 2011.

Technical specifications of the Eye-Fi cards [edit]

  • Wi-Fi security: Static WEP 64/128, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK
  • Range: 90+ feet (27.4m) outdoors and 45+ feet (13.7m) indoors
  • Storage capacity: 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB or 16 GB
  • Power: Powered through device.
  • Card dimensions: SD standard 32mm x 24mm x 2.1mm
  • Card weight: 2.835 gram (0.1oz.)
  • 802.11b/g + WMM + TSPEC Support [10]

Hardware [edit]

The card is manufactured for Eye-Fi by Wintec Industries Inc. of Milpitas, California, and contains the following major components:

Software [edit]

Settings of the Eye-Fi card such as wireless network access, selecting upload location on local computer and configuring photo sharing sites is done through software called the Eye-Fi Center which is available for both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Recently mobile access (in beta) has been added via a browser by visiting: http://m.center.eye.fi

Before use of any Eye-Fi card the user must "register" on the Eye-Fi website, in doing so the card software demands the firewall to be opened for the Eye-Fi software,[1] the same happens every time the user needs to reconfigure its wireless network with the network data ending up sent and stored to Eye-Fi servers and that happens by default to every single picture too.[11]

iOS [edit]

Eye-Fi offers an iPhone program, but it is only available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan App Store.[12]

Android [edit]

There is also an App available for Android [13] in the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fi.eye.android

Linux [edit]

Under Linux, the EyeFi card can be configured using eyefi-config, which allows viewing the logfiles and changing the wireless settings. To receive images from the card, there are several alternatives, EyeFi Framework, EyeFiServer including a Synology installer (in Python), iiid (in C++), RyFI (Ruby based) and Node-Eyefi (NodeJS). However, the UploadKey and TransferMode must still be defined from within Windows/Mac for the first use: although 'eyefi-config -k' has the capability to "print card's unique key", this isn't the UploadKey that is needed.

Approval in some jurisdictions [edit]

While some Canon cameras support the technology, Canon does make the statement: "approval is required to use Eye-Fi cards in many countries or regions. Without approval, use of the card is not permitted."[14]

Currently supported photo services [edit]

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012)

Awards and accolades [edit]

Eye-Fi has won the following awards:

In November 2007, Wall Street Journal writer Katherine Boehret called the Eye-Fi card "a terrific little tool".[20]

The magazine Wired placed the Eye-Fi Pro on their "2009 Wish List", calling it "Arbus meets Airbus".[21]

In October 2010, Time magazine technology editor Peter Ha placed the original 2 GB Eye-Fi card on his list of "the 100 greatest and most influential gadgets from 1923 to the present".[22]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b [1] Retrieved on 2012-01-20
  2. ^ Eye-Fi introduces camera cards that wirelessly uploads videos to the Web and an iPhone app Retrieved on 2009-05-19
  3. ^ Eye-Fi Share Video 4GB SD card with Wi-Fi Retrieved on 2009-06-15
  4. ^ http://www.eye.fi/products
  5. ^ Eye-Fi current products
  6. ^ EYE-FI INTRODUCES A WIRELESS MEMORY CARD FOR PHOTO ENTHUSIASTS Retrieved on 2009-06-15
  7. ^ How Eye-Fi geotagging works
  8. ^ Eye-Fi: About Us: Management
  9. ^ Jef Holove biography, Where 2.0 Conference
  10. ^ http://wikidevi.com/files/Atheros/specsheets/AR6001GL.pdf
  11. ^ [2] Retrieved on 2012-01-20
  12. ^ "Outside US". Eye-Fi. Retrieved 2009-04-07. 
  13. ^ "Android App". Eye-fi. 
  14. ^ User Manual for Canon EOS 5D Mk III, Page 344
  15. ^ [3] Jan 9, 2010
  16. ^ [4] Jan 7, 2010
  17. ^ a b Eye-Fi enables seamless experience with Snow Leopard (press release), August 27, 2009
  18. ^ Eye-Fi wins Last Gadget Standing contest, again! (press release), January 11, 2009
  19. ^ And the winners are..., lastgadgetstanding.com, January 13, 2009
  20. ^ No Excuses: a Wire-Free Way to Upload Photos, Katherine Boehret, The Mossberg Solution, The Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2007
  21. ^ Wish List 2009, Wired, December 2009
  22. ^ All-TIME 100 Gadgets, Peter Ha, Time, October 25, 2010

External links [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eye-Fi&oldid=554754366"