Let’s face it. The geotagging feature is great on iPhoto ’09 but there are only a few cameras out there that currently have geotagging built in. Obviously the iPhone does, and for most of us that is it. While good for a camera phone, iPhone images aren’t fantastic. Some of you might have theGPS-enabled Nikon’s Coolpix P6000 13.5MP Digital Camera which is the camera that Apple showed off during the iPhoto demonstration. Most of us don’t have geotagging for great photos. But there is a pretty cool little workaround.
Eye-Fi Explore SD cards ($100), which have a built in Wifi card, use their wireless capabilities to geotag pictures. While it isn’t quite as accurate as a real GPS (or even Cell tower GPS), it is still accurate enough to get the point across. It triangulates based on nearby Wifi hotspots that are in a national database with geographic coordinates. This is very similar to the technology that the iPod Touch uses to find itself in the Maps application. If you aren’t in a Wifi’s range when the picture is snapped, it will point to the area where the next wifi point is triangulated. (more below)
Using the Eye-fi Explore obviously could cut down on your usable amount of storage space (2GB) and also probably uses your battery significantly faster, but having a geotagging function is probably worth it for most. You’ll also need a camera that takes SD Cards. Cameras that take CF Cards, SonyMemory Sticks, xD cards or any other type of media unfortunately won’t be able to take advantage of this technology.
Manufacturer Product Description
A Wireless Memory Card? Yes, there really is Wi-Fi inside that tiny little card. It’s going to change the way you take, save and share photos.
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It makes your camera a Wi-Fi camera. Upload your photos automatically.
Photos shouldn’t be trapped in your camera. Set them free effortlessly and wirelessly. The Eye-Fi Card is a wireless SD memory card for your digital camera. It stores pictures like a standard SD memory card, but also uses your Wi-Fi network to automatically upload images from inside your camera to your PC or Mac. No cables, no cradles, no fuss. It also neatly organizes your photo uploads by date in the folder you choose.
Key Features
- Unlimited Geotagging
- Wi-Fi Hotspot Access for 1 year
- Unlimited WebShare Service
- Wireless Uploads to Computer
- 2 GB of storage
Eye-Fi Explore is for those who tag or organize, for those who blog or share in real-time, for those who need to upload here, there or somewhere else, and all the rest who are simply passionate about managing, sharing and saving their memories.
It uploads photos wirelessly to your computer and to the web, of course. But, Eye-Fi Explore also automatically adds geographic location labels to your photos and allows you to upload from more than 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the nation. Your memories will be easier to search and more fun to share with geo tags, and you’ll be able to upload them on the go.
How it works
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Geotagging
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With Geotagging, your photos will be automatically labeled, or tagged, to show where they were taken. Today, tags make searching for photos easier and make sharing them more meaningful, but it’s a time-consuming and manual process. With Eye-Fi’s Geotagging Service, you won’t have to spend your time entering the info. It’s done for you when you upload your photo. |
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Using its built-in Wi-Fi, the Eye-Fi Card locates any surrounding Wi-Fi networks as you take pictures. Then, the Eye-Fi Service translates that data into geographic location and adds the information to each picture (in the EXIF data) as it is delivered to the web or your computer. It’s as easy as that. You snap the shot and the photo shows up labeled with the city and state in which it was taken. The coverage area is expanding all the time, as new Wi-Fi access points appear and as the location of those wireless networks are mapped and added to the system. Today, in North America, about 70 percent of the populated areas have been mapped. In Europe, the top 50 metropolitan areas are covered, along with 70 percent of the populated areas in Germany, France and the UK. Coverage is expanding in Western Europe as well as several areas of Asia, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and other countries. Certain online photo sites already support geotagging and even have visualization tools that let you map your memories. Check out Flickr, Picasa and SmugMug to see what geotagging can do. Many desktop photo management programs also make good use of geotags as well, including Adobe’s Photoshop Elements 6 (PC only), Google’s Picasa (PC only), Ovolabs Geophoto (mac only) and Microsoft’s Pro Photo Tools (PC only). Eye-Fi Explore includes unlimited Geotagging. |
HotSpot Access
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With Hotspot Access, you’ll be able to upload from more than 10,000 Wayport Wi-Fi hotspots across the US just as easily as at home. You don’t need to have your laptop with you or even have an account with the hotspot provider. Your photos will be delivered to your photo-sharing website and to your computer, even if it’s thousands of miles away. |
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To make this possible and easy, Eye-Fi has worked directly with hotspot provider Wayport. Wayport offers Wi-Fi access at thousands of locations, including most McDonald’s restaurants, major hotels, airports, and other locales. To see a map of all the locations in the US, click here.
An Eye-Fi Card with Hotspot Access already includes access to Wayport hotspots. Simply walk into a Wayport location and turn on your camera. Your Eye-Fi Card will recognize the network, connect to it and start uploading your photos while you have a burger or wait for your flight. If you want to be informed about your uploads, you can choose to receive status updates from Eye-Fi as either email or SMS messages. We’ll let you know when you’ve connected to a supported hotspot network and are uploading and we’ll let you know when your upload is finished. And, like all Eye-Fi uploads, if you leave the location before your upload is finished, it will pick up right where it left off the next time you’re in a supported location. Eye-Fi Explore includes 1 year of Wayport Hotspot Access. Eye-Fi Explore users will be able to renew Hotspot Access for $19 per year after the first year. |
WebShare
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With WebShare, your photos can be automatically uploaded to your favorite photo sharing, printing, blogging or social networking website. No wasted time sitting in front of your computer. No fussing with upload software. No delay in sharing your new memories with friends and family. Choose from among more than 20 of the most popular websites and some up-and-comers too. You can upload images privately and |
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control if and when they are viewable by others. Many sites even let you edit your photo albums online. And, you can change your preferred upload site at any time. You can even upload to the Web when your computer is turned off. The Eye-Fi Share and The Eye-Fi Explore will upload your photos directly to the Eye-Fi Service through your home Wi-Fi network. We’ll deliver them to your photo site and then deliver them to your computer the next time you turn it on. The Eye-Fi Service is secure and encrypted, so your data and photos are safe and private. Eye-Fi Share and Eye-Fi Explore include unlimited WebShare service. Upload and share all you want. |
Product Description
For those who tag or organize, who blog or share in real-time, who need to upload here, there, or somewhere else; and for all the rest who are simply passionate about managing, sharing, and saving their memories: there is now the Eye-Fi Explore Wireless SD card. It uploads photos wirelessly to your computer and to the web, of course. But, Eye-Fi Explore also automatically adds geographic location labels to your photos and allows you to upload from more than 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the nation. Your memories will be easier to search and more fun to share with geo tags, and you’ll be able to upload them while on the go.
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