Gadling gear review – Eye-Fi + MiFi + WiFi = wireless camera uploads

I love it when technology works – and I love technology even more when great technology works together with other great technology.

A good example of this, is the combination of the Verizon Wireless MiFi personal hotspot, and the Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card.

We covered the Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200 several days ago. As a quick reminder, the MiFi lets you connect to the Verizon Wireless broadband network using any WiFi enabled device.

The Eye-Fi passed through Gadling last year, and was picked as one of our best travel technology products of 2008. Eye-Fi is a normal SD memory card with 2GB of storage and an integrated WiFi adapter. This allows you to take photos, and upload them to the Internet (or your own PC) any time you are in range of a suitable WiFi signal.

Smart readers will already see where I am heading with this article – Eye-Fi + MiFi + WiFi = instant uploads of your photos, no matter where you are (as long as you have a Verizon signal).

The combination works surprisingly well. The upload speeds on the Verizon Wireless MiFi are sufficient to upload a photo in about a minute, which means you can snap a photo, and it’ll be available in your photo album right away.

Technology like this has been available for some time on mobile phones with applications like Shozu and PicPush (and even with the Eye-Fi application for the iPhone). But the Eye-Fi and MiFi lets you upload “real” photos – not just camera phone pictures.

Getting the combination to work is surprisingly simple. You plug the Eye-Fi card into your computer, and open the Eye-Fi manager. Then, with the Verizon MiFi turned on, you let the Eye-Fi scan for a wireless network. Once you detect the MiFi, you add it and enter its password.

That is all there is to it – next time you are out making photos, you can simply turn the MiFi on, and shoot away.

In order to let your camera stay on long enough to upload all the photos, you may need to disable or alter its power saving mode, but thanks to the Eye-Fi service, you’ll get an email when the photo transfer start (or stops).

Being able to offload your photos as soon as you take them, means you can show people back home what you are doing, and it provides a safe way to work with your pictures – even if you happen to lose your camera, your photos will already be back home on your PC or in your photo album. Eye-Fi supports uploads to 25 different photo sharing services.

I did notice one thing that was not working correctly – the Eye-Fi geotagging feature does not work when you use it in combination with the MiFi. Eye-Fi uses your WiFi location system to determine where you are, but since it is constantly connected to the MiFi, it won’t get an accurate fix on where you are.

And if you happen to be in the market for a very affordable way to get your own Eye-Fi card, check out this deal at Costco.com for their 4GB anniversary edition card, selling for just $60.

All in all, a great combination of technology, and one that works extremely well. Plus, just how often do I get to write an article with so many funny sounding buzzwords? EyeFiMiFiWiFi would make a great name for an 80’s pop band.