A while back, I read about the Eye-Fi, an SD memory card with built-in 802.11 wireless networking capability. I admit being skeptical — WiFi inside an SD memory card? So I contacted the folks at Eye-Fi and they were kind enough to send over a 2 GB Eye-Fi card for me to try out.

The Eye-Fi comes with software loaded onto the card and a USB SD card reader. I connected it to my PC, ran the software, configured the SD card for my wireless network and configured the software to upload new images to a hidden gallery on my SmugMug account. As a final step, the software instructs you to insert the SD card into your camera and provides brand-specific information on increasing the automatic power-off time on the camera. And that’s it. Literally.

I headed out, shot some pics, came home, turned on my camera and set it on the counter. The images were automatically transferred to the designated directory on my local hard drive and uploaded to SmugMug.

So, if you’re looking for a gift for your favourite photo buff, check out the Eye-Fi. Just keep in mind that the camera must support SD memory cards, which is the defacto standard in most newer consumer digital cameras. However, some brands, including Sony and Olympus, use other standards, so you’ll want to double-check before purchasing.