Eye-Fi Launches Cloud Program to Back up Every Single Photo

Eye-Fi, a company well known for making SD cards with built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, is launching its new Eye-Fi Cloud program today that lets users back up all of the photos they take with their smartphone as well as their camera, which can then be accessed on any device through a web interface or via dedicated iOS and Android apps, The Verge is reporting. The service offers unlimited photo uploads for $49 per year, regardless of resolution or file size.

The Eye-Fi Cloud works with all of the company’s existing Eye-Fi Mobi cards, which start at $49 for an 8GB model,  and new customers will get 90 days of free cloud backup. The pricing certainly compares favorably to Google and Dropbox’s offerings, especially for those who take a lot of photos. However, Eye-Fi’s service is designed to only work with pictures, not other file formats. The service works with new iOS and Android apps to grab the photos taken with a DSLR, mirrorless, or point and shoot camera and then uploads them to Eye-Fi’s servers.

“Once a card is paired with the smartphone app, any photo you take will be instantly transferred to your phone or tablet, which will upload it immediately to Eye-Fi’s servers (or wait until it’s connected to a Wi-Fi network, if you choose). The apps also backup all of the photos you take with your phone, similar to how Dropbox and Google+’s backup services work. Once your photos are in Eye-Fi Cloud, they can be accessed through the service’s web interface or an app on another mobile device.”

Photos on the Eye-Fi Cloud can also be organized into albums, which can then be shared privately with anyone via email.