Eye-Fi Labs—Be a Beta Tester
Regular readers will know I'm a fan of the Eye-Fi cards. Yes, they can be quirky, especially when going to mobile (although the Mobi has made that a lot more reliable), but I find it invaluable. I love that I can transfer my photos wirelessly from camera to iPhone or iPad (or Android device, of course) as I shoot or in a batch at the end of the day.
So when Eye-Fi does something new, I want to share! This time it's not a new product, but a new beta program (OK maybe it's an old beta program, but I just learned about it). Odd stock photo decisions aside, the new eye.fi/labs website lets you apply for beta goodness.
The reason this came up is that they are talking about a new Mobi Desktop Receiver for Mac. The Mobi card was only designed to go to a mobile device, but I guess they changed their mind, and for whatever reason they can't just let you use the existing software (which itself is a bit odd), so there's a whole new app in beta for receiving images shot to a Mobi card to your desktop. Here's what they say about it on the site…
Eye-Fi Mobi Desktop Receiver for Mac (beta)
Eye-Fi Mobi users now have the option to transfer to Mac computers for greater archiving and editing ability.
Requirements
- Eye-Fi Mobi card
- Apple Macintosh computer running OS X 10.8 or higher with WiFi capability, 10 MB of free disk space and a minimum 2GB of RAM
- Previous versions of Eye-Fi desktop software must be removed before installing the Mobi Desktop Receiver
That last bullet caught my attention; I wonder if this replaces your Eye-Fi desktop software, or if it means you can no longer use your older Eye-Fi cards? Presumably (hopefully) the former, as like I said, the existing software is odd. Perhaps it's time for a full upgrade!
If any of you are already on the beta program… well you can't tell us can you, since it's all NDA :-) But for anyone interested, head over and sign up! I know I will.
Comments
on January 9, 2014 - 5:06am
Cool thanks for sharing this Joseph. I'lm going to jump on board with this, but to do this, you will have to change settings, as per the ShutterSnitch App, where it cant be transferring to anywhere else apart from ShutterSnitch. This might become cumbersome trying to go from one to the other. I remember the OS X Eye-Fi Desktop Client and it was buggy as hell, and it only transferred probably 15% of my images, and that is why i was so happy to find ShutterSnitch and the Backup client it has for Mac . . .
Either way, i'll have a look at this and see if they have made any improvements.
Cheers
Edit : And i see its for the Mobi not the 2xPro :-/
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Arguing with a zealot is only slightly easier than tunnelling through a mountain with your forehead.
"Can't innovate any more, my ass" Phil Schiller
on January 10, 2014 - 1:08pm
Unfortunately the beta software is not compatible with regular or even recent legacy Eye-fi cards … only the Mobi versions … I’m not inclined to buy more cards at this time.
I’m having really good results using Shuttersnitch when I need to transmit to clients or post to the web from location shoots where I am shooting for web or newsprint … if I am in the studio using a laptop or desktop, I just shoot tethered USB … RAW is just too slow/problematic even with the fastest WiFi options …
on January 14, 2014 - 7:18am
I agree Butch. ShutterSnitch is the Perfect App for .jpeg and with that, shooting with 24.3mp they transfer in a couple of seconds, and that is good enough for me to show clients on my iPad Mini Retina … Shame really, that Eye-Fi couldn’t make their Mac App a workable solution, but i now need that App to change settings, and add WiFi Networks to my 2xPro Eye-Fi card.
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Arguing with a zealot is only slightly easier than tunnelling through a mountain with your forehead.
"Can't innovate any more, my ass" Phil Schiller
on January 16, 2014 - 8:09am
The RAVPower filehub claims to transfer the files wirelessly and it has built-in battery for emergencies. I have the ei-fi card first and then I decided to buy another filehub because it is easier to operate.