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Python-Based Server Lets Eye-Fi Users Skip Company's Software 128

Posted by timothy from the suddenly-more-attractive dept.
gollito writes "Coder Jeff Tchang has developed software written with python that allows users to download pictures from the Eye-Fi card rather than having to use the eye-fi manager software. Running the script at intervals would allow for real time updates to an online gallery." At least one user has responded to the release of this software by getting it (after a bit of tweaking) to run on Ubuntu Linux, and another says it works with BSD. I hope the people at Eye-Fi see this as a good thing, rather than reason for a knee-jerk cease-and-desist letter; when I asked about Linux support at the most recent CES, I was given a good-natured shrug and a reasonable hand-wave: approximately, "We just don't have the developer time for that when most of our users are on other platforms."
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Python-Based Server Lets Eye-Fi Users Skip Company's Software More

Python-Based Server Lets Eye-Fi Users Skip Company's Software

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  • What is eye-fi and why would I care? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by guruevi ( 827432 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @11:54AM (#27226307)

    A memory card with Wi-Fi built in and bad driver support somebody wrote a Python script for. Other than being over expensive (both in pocket and on battery) and unnecessary for most high-end camera's (since they have it already built-in or aren't in range of any wi-fi when shooting) I don't see the need for it nor do I see many uses elsewhere.

    This is Slashdot, the marketing and publicity channel of non-news for gadget freaks.

    • Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TheGratefulNet ( 143330 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:03PM (#27226459)

      I shoot semi-pro photography. I do studio shots and 'tethering' is a PITA.

      a wireless (a good one!) solution is needed.

      however, this device aint it ;(

      its sd-card only (pros tend to use CF cards). it does not support raw (why even bother then?). its slow and its gimmicky.

      the idea is good but it needs a TRUE solution, not this ugly hack. good first POC though.

      soon, though, cam companies will build in their own wi-fi, so this 'card stuff' has limited time before its irrelevant.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by The Phantom Mensch ( 52436 )

        Sure, the camera companies will build wi-fi in their cameras at some point. But do you want to buy a new $1000 camera body just to get one with a $25 wi-fi chipset built-in? That's how the camera companies will solve this problem.

        Is the JPEG limitation in this a function of how the Eye-fi firmware works or something that can be fixed in the Python script?

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by mrchaotica ( 681592 ) *

          Sure, the camera companies will build wi-fi in their cameras at some point.

          Personally, I'd much rather cameras have GPS instead of Wi-Fi, so that they can automatically fill in the EXIF location data for the photos.

          • Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care? (Score:4, Informative)

            by corsec67 ( 627446 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:40PM (#27227107) Homepage Journal

            Personally, I'd much rather cameras have GPS instead of Wi-Fi, so that they can automatically fill in the EXIF location data for the photos.

            That would only work if your camera was on for long periods of time, and had a constant view of the sky. Plus I get the best reception when I leave my GPS on the dashboard of the vehicle I am in, and leaving a camera powered on the dashboard of a firetruck seems like a very bad idea, while my GPS can handle that no problems. Also, having a separate GPS lets me use it for multiple cameras, since I might not be able to get a GPS built into every kind of camera I want with me.

            When I am taking pictures that I want to have the GPS data in the EXIF, I have a GPS running all day that I keep with me, and then at night I correlate the times from the pictures with the locations from the GPS using gpscorrelate [dview.net]. It takes in a GPX and a list of the pictures, so I can do all of the pictures I took all day and correlate them very quickly, even if they were taken with different cameras.

            There is a compact camera with GPS, the Nikon P6000 [wikipedia.org], but it has to lock on to the satellites when you turn it on, which can take a while, especially if reception is weak.

            • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

              by Eponymous Bastard ( 1143615 )

              Then it sounds like you need a camera and GPS with bluetooth. They can talk to each other and fill in location data in real-time, and if you're in a studio or near your laptop, it can upload the pictures in the background.

              You could even use it as a phone camera, or for videoconferencing, or whatever you want. Bluetooth is pretty standard for tethering like this.

              Wifi is only useful if you want to upload directly to the internet. That's not always the best solution

              • Well, I don't *need* bluetooth on my camera, but you are right if all of my cameras and GPS had bluetooth, they could possibly say "where am I right now", and the GPS could respond.

                That would be useful, but none of my cameras or my GPS have bluetooth.

                I agree that Wifi is less useful than bluetooth could be.

            • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

              by Deanalator ( 806515 )

              iphones put GPS data in the exif data of any picture you take.

          • I had considered wanting a camera with a GPS built-in, but there are so many times that it would not be worth it - any indoor shot, for example. Seems like a waste of upfront cost and battery life.

            Instead I will use the GPS I already have, the camera I already have, and any one of a few different programs that will compare time stamps between the two devices and add the corresponding EXIF data automatically.

            Right now I am using GPSPhotoLinker [earlyinnovations.com] for OS X.

            • Seems the real answer would be for cameras to start being made with a standardized accessory slot - like the mini-PC cards. You could then get a PC card gps, wifi, blue-tooth, 3g, extra memory, USB, SCSI, firewire (live video!), whatever - swap between camera bodies, even have a gps card with its own internal battery that could be left on with a good view of the sky then re-united with the camera at a convenient time to do the geo-tagging.

          • Personally, I'd much rather cameras have GPS instead of Wi-Fi, so that they can automatically fill in the EXIF location data for the photos.

            Don't they already have this? [ricoh-usa.com]

            What is the purpose? For hikers? Aren't they usually carrying around a GPS anyway? Is it to save having to match time stamps?

            • Ricoh, and the few others I have seen, are doing it wrong: the bulky, almost-SLR high-end cameras are the ones that would benefit from this least. What really needs GPS are the relatively cheap point-and-shoots (like mine [canon.com]) that are designed to be carried around everywhere, even when you don't have anything else. Camera phones would be okay too, except that they generally don't have a good enough user interface to get the shot when speed is of the essence.

              Also, not having to match time stamps is a big deal,

              • What's the use case? I don't think a snapshot camera would work the way you think, because there are limitations to GPS. For instance, keeping the thing off and in your pocket at the ready will not give you a GPS signal. It takes at least a few seconds and typically a few minutes to get satellite signals, and probably won't work at all in a city where you are likely to be playing the bit of tourist. I think GPS sort-of works in these bulky cameras because they are out in the clear and presumably on for long

                • I don't think a snapshot camera would work the way you think, because there are limitations to GPS. For instance, keeping the thing off and in your pocket at the ready will not give you a GPS signal. It takes at least a few seconds and typically a few minutes to get satellite signals, and probably won't work at all in a city where you are likely to be playing the bit of tourist.

                  Is there any fundamental reason why these problems couldn't be overcome with sufficiently good engineering? They're already sort of

                  • Phones have decent GPS? I ask because my only experience is with my Sony Ericsson, and it suffers from the problems that I described: decreased battery life, inability to connect in the city (buildings, presumably), and long connect times.

                    I get much better results by keeping the GPS off and just letting it find position based on the towers, which are very closely spaced in New York City so it usually pegs me within a half-block or so.

                    • Well no, they have "Assisted GPS" which augments the satellites with cell towers just as you mentioned in your second paragraph (except perhaps without having to enable it manually).

                    • Well no, they have "Assisted GPS" which augments the satellites with cell towers just as you mentioned in your second paragraph

                      Ahhh... thus your phone with a camera comment. I think a good feature would be for the cameras to have bluetooth that they could use to extract location data from the phone that is almost certainly sitting nearby. I don't know if the phones make that kind of information available to bluetooth or not.

                      except perhaps without having to enable it manually

                      Oops, didn't mean to imply that I had to turn on the assisted GPS, just that I have to shut off the GPS receiver - which only seems to work if I'm in Central Park :)

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by zuzulo ( 136299 )

            Surveyors, military, and police folks often find uses for kit like this. If you have the cash, it is not too difficult to find binocular devices with integral laser rangefinder, camera, gps, compass, etc. I have often thought that there would be high demand for a consumer grade version - automated location tagging and sizing features would seem fairly desirable. A quick survey of some of the current military devices can be found here [defense-update.com].

      • I shoot semi-pro photography. I do studio shots and 'tethering' is a PITA. a wireless (a good one!) solution is needed.

        Dude. Get a Nikon [nikonusa.com].

        Their wireless remote solution is ridiculously expensive (as is everything with Nikon's name on it) but I've seen it in action and it works very well.

      • soon, though, cam companies will build in their own wi-fi, so this 'card stuff' has limited time before its irrelevant.

        And we'll all throw the perfectly good cameras we own in the trash bin in order to upgrade?

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by TheGratefulNet ( 143330 )

          And we'll all throw the perfectly good cameras we own in the trash bin in order to upgrade?

          if you want new features that need hardware, yes.

          with digicams, they are throw-away, so that's one case.

          the other case is with slrs and here, the investment (long term) is lenses, not bodies. this isn't film and bodies are NOT long-term anymore. (leica is not quite thinking that, with their m8 body SO expensive and already uncompetitive since sensor and cpu tech advances but their body doesn't. not really.)

          what I o

      • its sd-card only (pros tend to use CF cards)

        I bought an Eye-Fi with a CF adapter [photojojo.com] that works fine in my digital Rebel.

    • I agree. I have a 2GB SD card in my camera, and try as I may, I never managed to fill it up. That's why I never went to a bigger SDHC card, I just can't seem to top this one. I guess it could be somewhat useful for those who just have to upload their pics to Facebook or something.

      Since I'm not on any social networking site, I am totally not the target for this device.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by stokessd ( 89903 )

        I have a couple 2gig cards and a Canon G7 camera. I thought I'd never fill those up. Then I went on vacation for two weeks in the strikingly beautiful Western Ireland region and without even trying hard I filled two of them up. I'm heading to Scotland this summer, and I'm going loaded for bear with dozens of gig of storage, like money or education, you can't have enough.

        Back on topic, This card is a solution to a non-problem.

        Sheldon

        • I've always wanted to visit Scotland (but only after Iceland). I just came back from Thailand, and I didn't just go to the beach, but saw a lot of beautiful and colorful places, temples, palaces etc. We even filmed a dozen short videos with the camera (of me eating insects, for instance), but still, it was under 1GB. I guess we're satisfied with only 3 or 5 megapixel pics. Yours is, btw. a very nice camera, and makes 10 megapixel photos. And it's probably a pelasure to use, too, compared to our Olympus. Not

        • Back on topic, This card is a solution to a non-problem.

          If you're trying to document misbehavior by police or other security personal, the kind of folks who will beat you and smash your camera, having some auto-upload capability is a very good idea.

          Sousveillance [wearcam.org] makes corrupt officials nervous. Anything that enables it is a worthwhile technology. Hide a netbook nearby, have it relay images from eye-fi equipped camera to a server far away, and see bad cops caught in the act.

          • I find corrupt police officers always notify me well in advance. This enables me to select a hiding place for my netbook and to place it there at a time when nobody's watching.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Smidge204 ( 605297 )

      I've known about the Eye-fi card for awhile. It strikes me as an interesting trinket but, as you said, not the most groundbreaking tech ever.

      What interests me, especially with this recent development, is a potential use in something other than a camera. Cameras are not the only devices that use SD cards for storage, after all. With this script, though, it may be a simple way to hard-hack a wireless connection into some homebrew embedded device.

      I'm still not clear if it can download data TO the card instead

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by guruevi ( 827432 )

        It seems this card only copies files that are already written on the card through some weird proprietary protocol. As I said, many camera's will soon have this or at least have an option to add it (Nikon already has it on some SLR's and I believe Canon has a consumer camera with it and the rest probably won't lag behind).

        What WOULD be interesting instead of this unusable trinket would be a cf-card as you propose that makes whatever device have a wireless connection. It could stream whatever is written on it

        • Granted [davespda.com].

          But this thing still is cool. If you can get gps and bidirectional communications in an SD form factor and 4GB storage as well, you're well on your way to some interesting rover applications.

        • Better yet would be two way communication so you could operate it by remote control from a computer. I was thinking security, not candid pr0n. Honest.

    • Re: (Score:1, Offtopic)

      by Hijacked Public ( 999535 )

      What is it that compels people like you to post?

      The 2 ipod shuffle stories were full of this, as was the megapixel story, and the comments on the iphone 3.0 story were mostly unreadable from it. Now eye-fi.

      What is it about a company offering a product that you can choose to either buy or not based on your own needs that generates so much emotion in you people? Why do you care what other people buy when those choices don't affect you?

      • Re:What is eye-fi and why would I care? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by mrchaotica ( 681592 ) * on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:13PM (#27226625)

        I think some people complain because they do want a product similar to the one being discussed, but the product has some particular flaw that screws it up. They're frustrated because they almost found exactly what they wanted, but failed.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by 6Yankee ( 597075 )
          If it had been available in CF format, I'd have my credit card in my hand right now.

        • I think you've hit the nail on the head, at least with me. At one point I was trying to find a way to be able to upload photos (over wifi or even wired ethernet) to a digital frame without having to physically go move SD cards around. (So the frame could stay in the folks living room)

          I was looking at single board computers with USB (the frame's internal flash can me mounted like a USB disk) but ended up abandoning the idea. Then I happened to glance at one of these eye-fi cards at a best buy. I didn't look

          • The way I do that is I got a Wifi-based picture frame. If this one [thinkgeek.com] comes back in stock, that might be what you want.

            The one I got [amazon.com] is based on Windows CE and has a bunch of problems, and freezes often enough that I put it on a timer to reboot it daily. It also has a bug that can't handle titles that have quotes in them.

            It reads a RSS feed for my photos, and updates them automatically. I have an album on Ipernity that I add pictures to, and a short while later they show up on the picture frame. The upside is

            • based on Windows CE and has a bunch of problems

              I think the second part was redundant there.

            • Your solution would almost be workable, if I could stomach using a Windows-based device.

              I assume I could setup an "RSS feed/server" (I dont know crap about RSS, I'd have to learn) on my *own* hardware so as to avoid using outside servers.

              My key objection to any frames with wifi that I've seen so far is that they all want you to subscribe to service from some outside website.

              I'm also not keen on it depending on net access to be able to show pictures - I want it to copy them to a local SD card (I'd also like

              • Your solution would almost be workable, if I could stomach using a Windows-based device.

                Agreed. I honestly thought that something as embedded as a picture frame should just work, but apparently using Windows CE and cheap developers leads to a crap product. The one on ThinkGeek should be better, but I haven't used it. It appeared a little while after I started having problems with the Samsung, and I really wish I had gotten that.

                I assume I could setup an "RSS feed/server" (I dont know crap about RSS, I'd hav

                • They are embedded systems, so it isn't easy to upgrade them, especially to do stuff they don't have the hardware to support. If files just appeared on a SD (say from you pushing data on to a Eye-Fi), would any of the data in cached in ram about the filesystem lead to corruption? If you had to turn the system off when updating the files, would the SD card have the power?

                  Well, I'm thinking the card could report itself as 'removed' (electrically disconnecting its contacts if that was the only way), and then 'reinsert' itself after changes. Possibly it could have a tiny recharagable battery with enough capacity to hold it for the brief loss of power (it could even double buffer, to keep that time as short as possible)

                  My original plan was to either use a laptop (with linux) somehow mounted in a box bent over with only the LCD showing (possibly mechanically detached from the hi

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by cellurl ( 906920 )
          I think it is a wonderful product. It removes parts for any system which currently uses SD which is ba-jillions. Its the trifecta of savings, space, cost, power. I do hope they make it bi-directional. We are just waiting for the price to come down a bit. Its going to enable datalogging everywhere. -jim

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by fm6 ( 162816 )

      Oh please. It's a perfectly good idea, even though EyeFi has kind of bungled the implementation. The fact that hackers are hacking it should tell you something.

      The use case they talk about in the advertising is a pretty common one. A bunch of people get together for a big social event, like a wedding, and take lots of pictures. Everybody promises to share their pictures, but what with absent-mindedness and the hassle of uploading big jpegs, it never happens. Wouldn't it be nice if everybody could see the pi

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mspohr ( 589790 )
        Authentication is a problem for these cards but there is a way around it. The Asus WL-330g is a very small portable access point that has a WiFi Cafe mode where it can connect (with authentication and other nonesense) to a WiFi access point and then offer an 'open' WiFi connection that the Eye-fi should be able to connect to...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by fm6 ( 162816 )

          I heard about that. Not a bad solution for the wedding scenario. Won't work for me, though, setting up a router (even a portable one) is almost as much hassle as just transferring the pics by sneakernet.

          I've found some routing software that might run on my tablet. That would enable a direct camera-to-tablet connection. Add in this python software.... Have to give it try when I have the time.

      • It sounds like you need a Bluetooth version...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by fm6 ( 162816 )

          My thought exactly. There actually are bluetooth cameras, but they're high-end and cost more than I'm willing to spend. And there's no bluetooth equivalent of the EyeFi.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Mr. Firewall ( 578517 )

      I don't see the need for it nor do I see many uses elsewhere.

      Not a pro, eh?

      Think event photography. For an example, think youth sports. You're shooting a game with an eye-fi card while an associate runs the laptop. Parents come up to your table and order prints, which your associate cranks out right there on the spot.

      And while your associate is doing the dirty work (i.e., collecting filthy lucre), you just keep on shooting the game.

      Need I say, "3. Profit!"?

      It's very useful, to a wide range of pros. Of course, no pro in zir right mind is going to run Linux on tha

      • For an example, think youth sports. You're shooting a game with an eye-fi card while an associate runs the laptop. Parents come up to your table and order prints, which your associate cranks out right there on the spot.

        While the game is ongoing? Wouldn't they be, like, watching it? I don't see a significant advantage over having several cards and swapping them around.

        • While the game is ongoing?

          You must mean, "While the games are ongoing, don't you? And the answer is Yes.

          Wouldn't they be, like, watching it?

          Only when their own kid is playing. The rest of the day is spent walking around bored, chatting with neighbors, and waiting for the kid's next event.

          I don't see a significant advantage over having several cards and swapping them around.

          Never shot one of these events, have you? When you've got four or more soccer matches / softball games going on at the same time, or a hundred Taekwondo / Karate / wrestling matches, or a wedding reception -- you don't exactly have time to keep running over to your table to change

          • You must mean, "While the games are ongoing, don't you?

            Do I? You originally wrote "You're shooting a game". Make your fucking mind up, if you have one.

            Never shot one of these events, have you?

            Neither have you. Srsly, hundreds of bouts simultaneously?

            or a wedding reception -- you don't exactly have time to keep running over to your table to change cards....

            Odd how they manged before, isn't it? Maybe they have pockets, or something.

            When does the retouching and other post processing occur in this instant p

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sleepy ( 4551 )

      Slashdot is News For Nerds.

      Is it nerdy to add wifi-to a consumer camera?
      Is it nerdy to adapt this to Linux, where zero support existed before?

      Yes.

      Is this a case of stealth marketing/publicity abuse? Could be, but I doubt it. I have one of these devices (purchased for my wife), and I loathed that it had to run Windows because I don't.

      Now I can look at this script, and look at customization.. rather than copying my photos off her PC, I could setup a second upload point on my laptop which only gets ena

  • That name is so 2008... (Score:5, Funny)

    by orkybash ( 1013349 ) <tim.bocek@gmailERDOS.com minus math_god> on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @11:58AM (#27226359)
    Gotta get it changed to Yfy.

  • has developed a software (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You sound like every Indian software developer I've ever met. The word software does not require, and should not have, an indefinite article before it.

    • The French sometimes pluralise it.

  • Maybe they aren't very big (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:09PM (#27226553)

    TFA talks about the company not having enough developers to support a non-Microsoft OS. Maybe they don't have much resources for anything.

    I went to the company site linked in TFA and got the following message:

    // Provide alternate content for browsers that do not support scripting // or for those that have scripting disabled. Alternate HTML content should be placed here. This content requires the Adobe Flash Player. Get Flash

    They didn't have the time to properly test their website and we're seeing a message from a template (that should have been removed). I've seen this kind of thing before. A company doesn't have the resources to do the job right and rushes the product out the door just to survive. It sure rings all the alarm bells for me.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      A company doesn't have the resources to do the job right and rushes the product out the door just to survive. It sure rings all the alarm bells for me.

      It sounds familiar to me. Like some little fly-by-night s/w outfit in Redmond.

      Troll mod in 3...2...1

      • Congratulations. I only had to get down half a page to see this totally unrelated in any way article being somehow connected back to being Microsoft's fault. Thanks Slashdot for not disappointing!

        Well, I do give you a bonus point for at least admitting you are trolling.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by PPH ( 736903 )

          The humor aside, the (evidently missed) point being made is that size rarely has much to do with s/w quality. Some pretty crappy product gets written by large outfits. And some excellent s/w gets written by one guy sitting in a dorm room in Helsinki.

  • feature (Score:5, Interesting)

    by The Cisco Kid ( 31490 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:11PM (#27226585)

    I havent looked at it yet (I will) but what I'd like to see is the ability to *upload* files to the card. The application would be putting it in a digital picture frame (which would be in a different room than where the computers were) and be able to add photos to it without having to physically go get the SD card and apply sneakernet.

    • I worked out a solution (sort of) to this problem for my Father.

      For his last birthday I wanted to get him a digital picture frame, since so many of the pictures that the rest of the family is taking are digital. I also wanted it to be something he could just plug in and "forget about". Requiring zero maintenance from him.

      I looked around a bit and got a Kodak

      - It has built in WiFi (he already had DSL, so all I needed to do was install a WiFi Router, which was good since he needed a router between him and t

      • Like and idiot, I forgot to update the section in my reply that actually listed the model number before I hit submit (with Slashdot had an "Edit" feature :) ).

        Please replace this:


        I looked around a bit and got a Kodak

        With this:


        I looked around a bit and got a Kodak EasyShare W1020 http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=13162&pq-locale=en_US [kodak.com]. Its a bit pricy (although they also have a smaller model for less), but I really wanted to get my father something nice for his 79th birthday. :)

        :

      • - It can be set to display a Flicker or Kodak Gallery account automatically.

        And there would be the deal breaker for me. I don't want the pictures on some third party's company service - I want to copy them from my machine directly to an SD card plugged into the frame. I would _settle_ for a frame that had the ability to load pictures from *my own* server (http, ftp, even [ugh] samba)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      I havent looked at it yet (I will) but what I'd like to see is the ability to *upload* files to the card. The application would be putting it in a digital picture frame (which would be in a different room than where the computers were) and be able to add photos to it without having to physically go get the SD card and apply sneakernet.

      Problem is, read-only is all you can get. What the Eye-Fi is doing is accessing a raw block device (while the camera/device is also accessing a raw-block device). Now, the Eye

      • 1. A picture frame wouldnt be making any changes to the underlying card.

        2. It seems like it wouldn't be such a big deal for something like the eye-fi to electrically report to the device its plugged into that its been removed, make the modifications, then 'be plugged in' again. If there was an issue with getting power while a device saw it as 'not there' during an update, it could pretend to be empty instead (with an intervening remove/insert cycle for the transitions)

  • that the excuse for not providing the facilities is that nobody is using it on those OSes. Seems odd to me that they'd expect for a substantial number of people to buy their products without including the ability to actually use the product.

    But then again, developers seem to be spoiled badly enough that they expect people to plunk down their cash even before they can use it on their preferred OS. Often times sending cease and desist letters in place of actual support.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by OG ( 15008 )

      This is a squarely consumer product from a small company with limited developer resources. According to Net Applications, Windows and Mac make up a bit over 98% of the consumer OS base. While people may disagree over methodology, these are the two major platforms used by Eye-Fi's target demo. Expending resources on Linux support probably doesn't make financial sense for them.

      I primarily use Linux, and I love it, but it's not Eye-Fi's responsibility to make Linux more appealing by having applications avai

  • C&D in 3, 2, 1 ... (Score:5, Informative)

    by wiredlogic ( 135348 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @12:13PM (#27226611)

    From their website it looks like they are selling the same product at three different price points with the only differentiator being the included software features. A cross-platform solution that allows one to bypass this scheme may induce their lawyers to shit the proverbial brick and send out a reflexive C&D order to combat such a nuisance.

    • Re:C&D in 3, 2, 1 ... (Score:4, Informative)

      by cortesoft ( 1150075 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @01:58PM (#27228671)

      It looks like they are slightly different in the hardware department as well. For one, there are 2 different sizes (2G and 4G), and the high end one looks like it has access information for 10,000 hot spots built in (although I am doubtful about how useful those would be). It actually doesn't appear that there is any difference in the desktop software, just on the card and for external services (the geotagging thing on the high end one).

      Of course, they probably will still sue, because you could probably compete with a third party geotagging service or something.

  • Running the script at intervals would allow for real time updates to an online gallery.

    Wouldn't you have to be within range of your own home network for this to work? I don't think it would work if you were on someone else's wireless would it?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 222 ( 551054 )
      If you have a static IP with a registered DNS entry it would work just fine. These cards are neat, but they weren't designed for corporate networks. Kind of driving me up the wall right now.

  • I think the problem here would be "programmed feature removal"

    http://www.eye.fi/cards/ [www.eye.fi]

    There's three different cards to buy, and I have no doubt that they're all identical save for what card they claim to be, thereby limiting what features the manager software will allow the user to access.

    • For the bottom two that seems to be true, but the 3rd one can upload through hotspots that are not your home. I'm sure the hardware on all 3 are the same but the firmware on the 3rd might be different.
      I could also see where they might all be the same except for a serial number. In that case the bottom two while in another hotspot would have to try to contact the master server which would reject it based on serial number. But if it had different firmware on the bottom two it might not try to contact at a

  • ceace and desist (Score:3, Informative)

    by FunkyELF ( 609131 ) on Tuesday March 17, 2009 @01:06PM (#27227593)

    I hope the people at Eye-Fi see this as a good thing, rather than reason for a knee-jerk cease-and-desist letter

    From looking at their 3 different models it seems that the only difference between the bottom two models is software running on the PC, so this could effectively turn a $50 card into a $60 card. Doubt they would be happy about that.

  • What they need is to allow the stupid thing to transmit RAW format files - the feature that everyone wants, but for some bizarre reason they refuse to supply, even though it could be implemented very easily!

  • I just built our first mini-itx system in order to stream HD video from a camcorder to a base PC (we're trying to put together a multi-camera HD recording system at a price point of about 1/8-1/4 of that it would cost for HD-SDI). Works quite nicely but more or less begged for wireless-n. If these cards streamed the file as created though...and were in the 32GB size range...and used wireless-n....and were *supported* under Linux...damn those would be huge. A tech to watch I guess..

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