Engadget has a story about a woman who’s camera was stolen in Florida.  What the thief didn’t know was that the SD card inside her camera was actually an Eye-Fi card.  It’s a sweet piece of technology I myself own and enjoy using.

The card somehow manages to squeeze 2GB of memory and a 802.11 transmitter inside the card.  When the camera is powered the card (using simply the internal battery of the camera–and to no noticeable detriment so far as my usage has shown) automatically looks for a wireless network to upload your pics to your computer (if a sync point was set) or your favorite social networking site(s).

My Eye-Fi card automagically uploads my pics to my Facebook account for instance.  So too did this lady’s card, uploading images taken on her vacation, and after her camera was stolen, to one of her sites.  One of the photos included a clear enough shot of the thief himself to allow the woman to contact police, who were then able to track the man down and recover the stolen equipment.

I just wish this card existed 6 months earlier than when I received mine, in which case it may have helped me to recover the Nikon D70 that was a beloved graduation gift from my mother.  Sadly, this was not to be, and I’m rocking a Nikon D80 now so I can’t completely complain, but still, kind of an unintended but pleasant use of the Eye-Fi card.


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