Yesterday the WiFi memory card people, Eye-Fi, announced a new SD card which we at Gadget Lab think will change the way photos are shared. The Eye-Fi Explore brings a slot-in geotagging solution to anyone with an SD card slot…
Yesterday the WiFi memory card people, Eye-Fi, announced a new SD card which we at Gadget Lab think will change the way pics are shared.
The Eye-Fi Explore brings a slot-in geotagging solution to anyone with an SD card slot in their camera, so every photo you take will be stamped with the location you were in. In addition, you can finally use a digicam without a computer. The Eye-Fi will log on to free hotspots and send your snaps out into the cloud, to end up at your pic site of choice.
We’d a chat with Eye-Fi CEO Jef Holove to see how the card works and what it might mean for the future of photography.
Gadget Lab: The Eye-Fi Explore is a massive step for geotagging. It costs the same as a standalone box and needs no extra work from the user. Do you think this is the kick in the pants geotagging needs to really take off?
Jef Holove: Geotagging is already generating excitement, especially on sites like Flickr, SmugMug and Picasa. It really makes organizing, searching and sharing photos better. But, as compelling as it is, it hasn’t yet taken off like you’d anticipate because, today, it requires either time-consuming, manual entry or expensive, cumbersome gear.
The digerati might be geotagging, but that’s too much hassle for the every-day photographer. Our approach is to make geotagging automatic. And, yes, we do think making it that simple will kick the trend into high gear.
GL: You’ve obviously done some deals with Skyhook and Wayport. Is this going to slow down the rollout of the Eye-Fi range to the rest of the world? And if I was to purchase an Eye-Fi Explore in the US and ship it back to Europe, would the geotagging feature work here?
JH: Without unveiling here our plans for the rest of the world, I will say that there’s much more to consider than meets the eye in expanding the Eye-Fi experience. Many pic sites and service providers are present and popular in multiple countries, including Skyhook and Wayport. Our existing partners will help us, not slow us. But, we’ve to recognize that each culture might have its own dynamics around sharing memories and its own constellation of pic and social communities to do so.
There are a lot of things to get right in this ecosystem beyond language and infrastructure. As to your second question, the Eye-Fi Explore not only works in the US, but also works abroad. Through our partnership with Skyhook, the top 50 metropolitan areas in Europe are covered, including 70 percent of the population in Germany, France and the UK. The rest of Western Europe will be covered in mid-summer 2008.
GL: Can you see Eye-Fi being bundled with cameras in the future? It seems like a smart and simple way for camera makers to add faux-GPS to their products.
JH: We do think our approach is a convenient and simple way to get cameras connected to the Web and all that it offers. Ours is an open system that let’s you select the pic site you like and it simplifies what would otherwise be a complicated experience. Our answer to geotagging is just another example of that. Plus, using Wi-Fi means it works indoors, is power efficient, and doesn’t take long to locate your position. And, there’s no extra bits and pieces to cart around.
GL: What kind of drain does the triangulation put on the host camera’s battery? Is it actually better to let the chip log the points and let a personal take care of the heavy lifting when you get home?
JH: The new capabilities simply make more use of the Wi-Fi abilities that were already inherent in the original Eye-Fi Card. There’s no additional battery-life impact because, in fact, the processing of the location data is done on the network, as part of what we call the Eye-Fi service. The card sees the nearby access points while you’re shooting and stores the information. When we upload the photos, our service compares that information to Skyhook’s map of networks and adds the resulting location tag.
GL: The original WiFi card was good, but with geolocation and hotspot support you’ve made a must-have product. What’s next? Do you think that cameras will begin to build this stuff in or is a third celebration solution the best way to go?
JH: This day, the Eye-Fi Card is the only way to get your camera connected in a way that makes saving and sharing images really effortless. You can use it with the SD camera you already have or you can add it to the next camera you really want without being limited in camera choice.
The camera makers obviously bring extraordinary camera and lens innovation to the capturing of memories. We bring our expertise in the internet and software, network and wireless technology, and a rich partner ecosystem to the post-shutter-click experience. We think of our “product” as a service as much as a device. So, we believe our approach will continue to be the richest, most meaningful. Long term, there are several interesting ways to help you manage, save and share your digital memories. But, automatic uploads, geotagging and hotspot access is a great place to begin.
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