Eye-Fi Opens Beta Program for WiFi-enabled SD Card

Eye-Fi has opened a beta program for their Eye-Film WiFi-enabled media card. The Eye-Film card is a combination 802.11b/g WiFi radio and 512MB of memory in a Secure Digital (SD) form factor. The primary use of this device is the digital camera market. After you have configured the device, you will able to connect to open and secured wireless networks to transfer pictures (JPEG only) to your own computer or an online service.

For a $99 participation fee, Eye-Fi will send you the card, software (PC and Mac) for local transfers, an online service for online transfers, online support, a "small gift", and a free upgrade to a 1GB production model when you send your beta model back. If you have problems with the device that can't be resolved, you will get a full refund.

They fully expect for the beta users to run into issues: "The Beta hardware, software, and service will have bugs and may fail at inopportune times." However, they say that the card has been tested in a wide range of consumer and professional digital cameras. While the card is an SD format card, they will also supply a Compact Flash Type II adapter for Digital SLR owners who have Compact Flash slots.

If you're interested, head to http://www.eye.fi/beta.html to get the full details/rules.