A new “Direct Mode” feature being launched this week by Eye-Fi, the Wi-Fi-enabled SD memory card people, could change the relationship between our digital cameras and the cellphones and tablets we carry with us.
Cameras using upgraded Eye-Fi cards will be able to wirelessly transfer photos and videos direct to their smartphones and devices like the iPad, without taking their usual route to the “cloud” and then onto users’ PCs or online photo services.
Eye-Fi is making available free iPhone/iPad and Android apps that can be launched after taking photos or video. The camera’s card will then find the mobile device using its Wi-Fi capabilities – linking up with the other device’s Wi-Fi signal to transfer what’s been taken to the app.
The photos can then be displayed, edited and sent on to Eye-Fi ‘s online service, using Wi-Fi or a 3G/4G connection, for storage and further distribution.
So, for iPad owners, for example, photos and videos would be transferred wirelessly and stored in the regular Photos library as well as being seen in the app, without the need for Apple’s $29 camera connection kit that plugs into its dock connector. In the case of videos, they could then be edited more easily on the much bigger screen, with something like Apple’s iMovie app.
“We’re bridging the gap between digital imaging and the mobile world with Direct Mode,” Jef Holove, Eye-Fi chief executive, told me in an interview.
“We’re trying to make the half a billion cameras already out there in the world as connected as the smartphone you have in your pocket.”
There is no need to be in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot for Direct Mode to work. The technology is similar to the Wi-Fi Direct industry standard that promises similar file-exchange interactions between Wi-Fi enabled devices.
Existing owners of Eye-Fi X2 SD memory cards will have to plug their cards into their PCs over the next week to get a software upgrade that enables this.
The Silicon Valley company is also launching a new card – the 8Gb Eye-Fi Mobile X2 – to draw attention to the new feature. At $80, it is $20 cheaper than the current 8Gb Eye-Fi Explore X2, which is being withdrawn.
In addition, the top-of-the range 8Gb Pro X2 is being reduced from $150 to $100 this month.
