Eye-Fi's X2 EOL will brick your memory card's wifi

UPDATE: EyeFi Releases X2 Utility

Eye-Fi the company that makes SD memory cards with wifi capabilities has announced by email to its customers that is going to shut down key services on September 16, 2016.

...This notice formally begins the final stage of the “end-of-life” (EOL) process started in mid-2015 for the affected products.  It’s very important that customers cease using these products no later than September 16, 2016 as some key services these products rely on will be shut down at that time. 

This means that you wont be able to activate the card, change its settings or log in to the managing software after the cut off.


Forget about reinstalling the software, selling the card, or changing the destination folder for your photos. Their solution is to migrate to their new products where they will try to sell also a subscription model.

Vulnerable

The primary technologies relate to Internet security and authentication mechanisms that were state-of-the-art in 2007 when we built them into our products but have since proven to be vulnerable.

The security reason they give for the shutting down is not enough, as the reach of the wifi signal on the card is just a few meters and the hacker will need to be in the same room. Cutting costs and improving their bottom line is probably the reason behind this decision.

List of affected products (Eye-Fi 1.0):

All original pre-X2 products (Original, Home, Share, Explore, Video Share, Video Explore, Pro)
4GB Geo X2
4GB Connect X2
8GB Explore X2
8GB Mobile X2
8GB Pro X2
16GB Pro X2
Visioneer X2
Sandisk X2
Eye-Fi Windows desktop software (Eye-Fi Center)
Eye-Fi Mac desktop software (Eye-Fi Center)
Eye-Fi app for iOS
Eye-Fi app for Android
Eye-Fi Center web app (center.eye.fi)

Basic functionality

Please note that while Direct Mode may not be directly affected, Eye-Fi applications will no longer be updated for operating system updates, and their functionality is not guaranteed - additionally, no support will be provided either for the setup or functionality of Direct Mode. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT DIRECT MODE CONFIGURATIONS WILL CONTINUE FUNCTIONING AFTER THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 SHUT DOWN.

Some basic functionality may work or may not. This is not very encouraging to buying more of their products.

What Eye-Fi should do to keep the trust and loyalty of their customers.

1. Release a final update of the client software that permits the old cards to be activated and change their settings without using Eye-fi servers.
2. Open source the code of the server so it can be improved and updated by the community of users and hobbyists.

or

• Send a new card for almost free (90% discount will be acceptable) and an apology to old customers in a recall program and hope they will be interested in Eye-Fi's subscription services.

What affected users can do?

Because the new Eye-Fi cards are less capable than the old ones and now require a subscription fee to work, existing users are likely to move to solutions offered by Eye-Fi's direct competitors like Toshiba's FlashAir, Transcend WiFi SDHC, Flucard from Trek2000, or Ez Share’s Wifi Card.

If competitor's solutions do not fulfil your requirements or you have invested a lot on these cards you can always start a class-action lawsuit against the company, sure lots of other customers in the same situation will join.

Petition on change.org

Keep Eye-Fi X2 WiFi cards active for 10 more years.