Todays & Tomorrows Technology

Eye-Fi have announced their latest wireless memory card, the 4GB Eye-Fi Pro. Using the SDHC format, the new Eye-Fi Pro offers the usual automatic wireless transfer of images from digital cameras to a computer or website; however it also adds new file-type support, increased control over which images are synchronized, more flexible WiFi connectivity and video functionality.

The Eye-Fi Pro 4GB now includes “Selective Transfer”, which allows users to choose which photos and/or videos are uploaded. This bypasses the issue with the older cards where every shot was transferred; according to Eye-Fi all users will now be able to use Selective Transfer, not just those with the Pro 4GB. Images are selected by locking them through the camera’s own menus.

Meanwhile the Pro 4GB also supports RAW images, making it more appealing to pro-photographers, which like the JPEG images can be geotagged automatically. WiFi ad-hoc connections directly between the camera and a computer can be used for peer-to-peer transfer, too.

Users also get access to more than 10,000 Wayport hotspots, together with any open WiFi hotspots they may come across, and the system supports in excess of 25 online photo/video sharing sites. Of course, media is also stored locally in the card’s own storage too. The Eye-Fi Pro 4GB is available now, priced at $149.

Apple has updated its MacBook Pro range, announcing a new 15-inch MBP with a built-in battery that is apparently good for up to 7hrs of runtime. It also drops the ExpressCard slot of the previous model and replaces it with a far more user-friendly SD card slot. Meanwhile the 17-inch MacBook Pro gets a price cut to $2,499, while the 13-inch MacBook now graduates to the Pro line with integrated 7hr battery among other things. Full details after the cut, plus a big price-cut for the MacBook Air.

The 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1,699 with a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics, a 250GB hard-drive, SD card slot and 7hr non-user-accessible battery. Then there’s a $1,999 model with 2.66Ghz processor, combination GeForce 9400M and 9600M GT graphics, and a 320GB hard-drive. Finally, the $2,299 model boosts that to a 2.8GHz processor and 500GB hard-drive. The battery is apparently good for around 1,000 recharge cycles. All three notebooks are shipping today.
As for the unibody 13-inch MacBook Pro, that comes in two standard configurations. $1,199 gets you the 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics, a 160GB hard-drive and SD card slot (there’s no ExpressCard slot). $1,499 steps that up to a 2.53GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and a 250GB hard-drive. Options include up to 8GB of RAM and up to 500GB hard-drive; standard are a backlit keyboard and FireWire 800 port. It’ll be available today.
Finally, the MacBook Air gets a new price point with significant discounts. $1,499 gets the 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, GeForce 9400M graphics and a 120GB hard-drive, while $1,799 gets the 2.13GHz processor and the 128GB SSD. The SSD model is, in fact, $700 cheaper than it was previously.