14 DAY TRIAL // SD memory cards are currently among the most popular storage solutions for a large number of portable devices, ranging from digital cameras to mobile phones and PDAs. However, in order to transfer data, said cards must be either inserted into a card reader or the devices they're providing storage for must be connected via a data cable to a computer.
Nevertheless, it seems that things are about to change. Thus, according to an article published by Michael Kanellos for News.com, a start-up company called Eye-Fi has great plans for this domain, as it has announced that it intends to launch until autumn 2007 some new Secure Digital memory cards with integrated Wi-Fi chips, which allow the users to send the pictures directly to the PCs or photo-sharing web sites, without requiring any wires.
The idea of sending photos from the digital camera directly to a PC is not exactly new, but doing so from just about any camera is something quite revolutionary. Since the wireless functionality resides on the card, the networking functions won't have anything to do with the digital camera itself, which means that the thing will work even in normal models, not just in those fitted with special Wi-Fi modules.
The company's ideas are very innovative, and it seems that now they've even got the money to turn them into reality, as Eye-Fi has just secured $5.5 million in funding from Opus Capital and Shasta Ventures. "Digital cameras have made it very easy to take pictures, but it's a chore to get photos off the camera to a place where you can print or share them," said Robert Coneybeer, managing director for Shasta Ventures and now a member of Eye-Fi's board. "This is a very real problem affecting both consumers who own digital cameras, and companies in the digital photography industry looking to boost profits. We see a huge market opportunity for Eye-Fi because anyone with a Wi-Fi network and a digital camera is a potential customer."
There's little information regarding the future device's memory capacity and price, but according to Kanellos, the company's representatives hinted a $100 price tag for around 2 GB of storage space. The problem here is that normal memory cards are available for a lot less, and the people from Eye-Fi will certainly have a lot of work to do in convincing their customers to cough up more money for more or less the same storage space.
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