Eye-Fi Pulls The Plug On Pre-2015 Products And Servers
For digital photographers, especially professional ones, the SD cards in cameras aren't enough to catch up with their shutter-happy fingers. But while all digital cameras worth their salt have such card slots, not all of them feature Wi-Fi for convenient transferring to computers with more ample storage. Eye-Fi provided a bridge with their ingenious Wi-Fi SD cards. But starting September 16 this year, majority of those cards sold before 2015 will become useless pieces of plastic and silicon. All because Eye-Fi is shutting down servers and services that those cards need in order to function.
It might sound like a strange affair. After all, our smartphones and computers don't suddenly stop working once a manufacturer ceases support for it. Eye-Fi cards, however, are a very special class. Because while the cards do actually have all the hardware and other features necessary for it to wirelessly connect and transfer photos and videos to a laptop or mobile device, it actually requires an Internet connection in order to set it up. And that's because it communicates with Eye-Fi's servers, which are the ones that the company is shutting down in a few months.
In effect, Eye-Fi is killing off all those products by simply killing off the services, whether or not those still function well. These include, both hardware and software:
• All original pre-X2 products (Original, Home, Share, Explore, Video Share, Video Explore, Pro)
• 4GB Geo X2
• 4GB Connect X2
• 8GB Explore X2
• 8GB Mobile X2
• 8GB Pro X2
• 16GB Pro X2
• Visioneer X2
• Sandisk X2
• Eye-Fi Windows desktop software (Eye-Fi Center)
• Eye-Fi Mac desktop software (Eye-Fi Center)
• Eye-Fi app for iOS
• Eye-Fi app for Android
• Eye-Fi Center web app (center.eye.fi)
Eye-Fi's reasons for stopping support for those products is that the Wi-Fi technologies used for those have been deemed a security risk. And, unfortunately, those can't be fixed with a simple firmware update. While understandable, it is still unfortunate that Eye-Fi isn't offering its customers a way out, by making its services available offline in some app or another. Instead, those still interested in using Eye-Fi technology will have to invest in newer cards and the company's newer Eye-Fi Cloud service. Which, of course, will generate more revenue for the company.
VIA: DIY Photography
SOURCE: Eye-Fi