Eye-Fi, makers of popular Wi-Fi enabled memory cards, are phasing out some of their lineup later this year, and users are miffed because those older cards will simply cease to function.
Eye-Fi informed customers over email that the X1 and X2 lines have an “end of life” date of September 16th, 2016. These particular products required a cloud service called “Eye-Fi Center,” which you would use to configure the cards’ settings. But they’re taking down the hub through which you would configure the cards, rendering them mostly useless. According to DIYPhotography, Eye-Fi cites the insecure, outdated Wi-Fi technology used by the cards as the reason, but it’s probably not a coincidence they sold their cloud services to Ricoh just last month.
Here’s the full list of products that will no longer work after September 16th, via Eye-Fi’s FAQ:
All original X1 products (Original, Home, Share, Video, Pro)
4GB Geo X2
4GB Connect X2
8GB Explore X2
8GB Mobile X2
8GB Pro X2
16GB Pro X2
Visioneer X2
Sandisk X2
There may still be a way to make use of the cards without their support, though. Eye-Fi says ‘Direct Mode’ should still function on the cards, as well as ‘Selective Transfer’, as long as you configure them before the September 16th cutoff date.
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Photo by Yoppy (Flickr).