Eye-Fi: No More USB Cord

Guest Post by Tom from HarnessTechEd

There comes a time when you just want to break free. Free from wires and adapters that is. The latest product to come on the market to make taking pictures easier is the Wireless Eye-Fi memory card. We have all been in that moment, where we are getting ready to take that perfect snap shot, then the camera beeps and displays, CAMERA FULL. Most of us will simply buy extra memory cards, however save your money and time. The Eye-Fi cards work exactly the same way with no extra catch. All you need is a digital camera and a wireless network.

• The cards come in sizes ranging from 4 gigabyte (2,000 images or 90 minutes of video) to 8 gigabyte (4,000 images or 180 minutes of video)
• They range in price from $49.99 to $149.99

• Most of the digital camera distributors (over 1,000) are compatible with the wi-fi cards. In some cases, advanced features are available with recent cameras.
• Connects to on-line photo services (Evernote, Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, and more).

Something to keep in mind is the Geo Tag feature, which will tag all your photo locations. Think about it when taking family photos or pictures of kids.

The other issue is security. You will need to make sure your wireless network and your Eye-Fi card is properly secure. You never want to have an “open” wireless network. To see exactly what network securities are accepted read the Eye-Fi technical specifications.

The setup takes no more than ten minutes and does require:

• Installing the Eye-Fi Center Software
• Your e-mail address for a free Eye-Fi account.

Now, think of the endless possibilities. Free to be on a beach! Free to be shopping! Free to be reading According to Nina! All this while taking photos and uploading them, anyplace and anywhere.

These cards can be purchased at Amazon and most electronics stores.

Oh, by the way they have a free iPhone App too!

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A couple questions I asked Tom after my short lesson on wi-fi cards:

I’m still confused about the geo tracking. If I have my Eye-Fi connected to my home network / to my home computer ONLY, am I still at risk ?

Any place you take an image (home, church, beach, etc…) the Eye-Fi card will mark the location. This means that anyone that knows how to check locations of photos, would be able to find your location. This is why it is important not to take images of children with the wi-fi card. Some of the newer cameras have this feature built into it. I am pretty sure it is an option you can disable if you choose, but by default it is turned on.

Do you recommend using the Eye-Fi cards?

The cards are amazing, especially for those individuals that like to organize their images by location. If they own a Mac, iPhoto allows you to organize your photos by location and create slideshows based on those places.

I’m not going to lie, the Geo Tag feature freaks me out but I’m hoping to find a way around it because I would share photos far more often if I didn’t have to always be looking for my USB cord! Thanks, Tom for a great guest post. We hope you’ll come back soon and teach us more about the newest tech gadgets on the market.

Be sure to check out HarnessTechEd’s blog and follow him on Twitter too!

images via mydigitalbits.com and eye.fi