The product was tested for past several days and while I have mixed feelings about the product, It does offer some nice capabilities for Android devices by using 'FlashAir' APP that is available on Google Play. This APP allowed me to view and download multiple pictures with ease. The SD card and my Android tablet held a strong 54Mbps connection and there was no dropping of Wi-Fi connection.
For PCs the current software implementation is very cumbersome. Especially the rudimentary looking HTTP website interface that you can access by typing "http://flashair" using your browser after connecting to the SD card wirelessly. With that interface you can download only 'one' picture at a time which is very counterproductive if you have a large collection of pictures on your SD card. There is also a Configuration Tool for PCs which reported that Certain features like internet pass-thru' (Which I wanted to try) can be activated with updated firmware on the W-02 version of SD card which I received for review.
This windows based FlashAir II - Firmware Update Tool that allowed me to update the card also seemed very basic at best. I attempted to do firmware update and while it worked in the end somehow or the other but I realized that The PC Firmware Update Tool interface needs a serious improvements as it currently makes you insert re-insert SD card multiple times to do a simple firmware update. After that most of the settings got lost and I ended up reformatting the card and started from the beginning.
Having said, The product is made in Japan which is a good sign. The hardware is very good. The SD card performs fast (Class 10) and I did not have any issues in using the product in my couple of Sony and Canon cameras. It does have good Wi-Fi signal strength for a tiny little SD card. Also, it has several shutdown and manual start-up methods of the Wi-Fi aspect of the card especially when not in-use in the camera to save precious battery life.
Bottom-line: For the asking MSRP price I think we deserve better features & software solutions for making this product competitive in the Wireless SD card Marketplace. For example if one can somehow map the 'FlashAir SD card' as a drive (Similar to NAS storage) for drag and drop of pictures that will be perfect solution for a Wireless SD card. I am keeping my hopes high hoping that Toshiba will release a firmware update someday to include this enhancement request.
Thanks for reading my review, You can get one of these by using the link below:
For PCs the current software implementation is very cumbersome. Especially the rudimentary looking HTTP website interface that you can access by typing "http://flashair" using your browser after connecting to the SD card wirelessly. With that interface you can download only 'one' picture at a time which is very counterproductive if you have a large collection of pictures on your SD card. There is also a Configuration Tool for PCs which reported that Certain features like internet pass-thru' (Which I wanted to try) can be activated with updated firmware on the W-02 version of SD card which I received for review.
This windows based FlashAir II - Firmware Update Tool that allowed me to update the card also seemed very basic at best. I attempted to do firmware update and while it worked in the end somehow or the other but I realized that The PC Firmware Update Tool interface needs a serious improvements as it currently makes you insert re-insert SD card multiple times to do a simple firmware update. After that most of the settings got lost and I ended up reformatting the card and started from the beginning.
Having said, The product is made in Japan which is a good sign. The hardware is very good. The SD card performs fast (Class 10) and I did not have any issues in using the product in my couple of Sony and Canon cameras. It does have good Wi-Fi signal strength for a tiny little SD card. Also, it has several shutdown and manual start-up methods of the Wi-Fi aspect of the card especially when not in-use in the camera to save precious battery life.
Bottom-line: For the asking MSRP price I think we deserve better features & software solutions for making this product competitive in the Wireless SD card Marketplace. For example if one can somehow map the 'FlashAir SD card' as a drive (Similar to NAS storage) for drag and drop of pictures that will be perfect solution for a Wireless SD card. I am keeping my hopes high hoping that Toshiba will release a firmware update someday to include this enhancement request.
Thanks for reading my review, You can get one of these by using the link below: