Eye-Fi memory cards let you wirelessly transfer pictures from the digital camera to your computer without cables. They are compatible with most digital cameras and, other than transferring pictures to the computer, Eye-Fi cards can also upload photos to sites like Flickr and Facebook straight from the camera.

There’s one limitation though. Eye-Fi memory cards use Wi-Fi to transfer photos from the camera to the computer and thus your camera needs to be within the range of a wireless network for you to push the image files out of the camera.

From the Digital Camera to the Mobile Phone

If that is holding you from getting an Eye-Fi card, here’s some related news that might interest you. Eye-Fi cards now let you upload photos and videos from the camera straight to your mobile phone without requiring a wireless network. Mobile devices that are currently supported include the iPhone, the iPad and all Android mobile phones.

You still cannot send photos from the camera to the computer without a Wi-Fi network but the new upgrade still solves an important problem. Say you are on a beach without Wi-Fi - you can capture a high resolution shot with your digital camera, transfer the picture to you phone wirelessly using the Eye-Fi card and then email it to friends using the phone’s data connection which could be EDGE, 3G or Wi-Fi.

The Direct Mode feature is available as a free software upgrade to all existing Eye-Fi card users or you can get one from Amazon.com.