I’m not a huge business card user. In fact, I carry a few of them mostly so I can throw them into a fishbowl in order to win a free lunch at a restaurant. However, I can imagine how useful it would be to have an application that would take business cards and effortlessly import their information into your contacts list. CardSnap attempts to address this by using a proprietary method similar to OCR but not really (or so says the app’s description).

Upon opening (and waiting for) CardSnap, you are given the option to use the camera to snap a picture of the business card. You can also load photos from your camera roll or from your photo library. However, since the main selling point is to use this application in real time, I wanted to focus on the camera option. After taking a picture, you can move and scale your picture before deciding to upload to the servers at CardSnap. Once you’re satisfied with your business card’s readability (this may take some time with the iPhone’s pitiful camera), you submit the card, and wait for a response. Other options in the application include a menu to review your submitted cards, an info screen that offers a user’s guide, and a settings screen that allows you to use groups with your contacts.

I submitted a few business cards several times and was impressed on occasion with the response from CardSnap. We all know that the camera on the iPhone is not very good, and the picture quality is marginal at best. To the application’s defense, the user guide strongly recommends the use of Griffin’s Clarifi case. I was unable to test with this, so I had to rely on the standard camera app as I imagine most iPhone users would as well. With my work business card, the app said that there were some illegible fields, and I should probably review these before accepting it as a contact. Indeed, there was an error in my name, and a wrong digit in my work phone number. Other than that, though, I was impressed with how many of the details were picked up by the service and assigned to the correct field. On my wife’s business card, CardSnap got everything right, though interestingly, it did choose to skip a few items like a web address and part of her title.

Thankfully, there have been a few updates since CardSnap’s original release. When I first downloaded this app, stability was a major issue as the initial load time was long, and I had to reopen the application quite regularly. If you were to use this application on a regular basis, you might want to invest in the Clarifi case, though there’s no guarantee that the application will still get all of the fields correct. One positive test included a submission that I made using my Nikon D60 camera. CardSnap read this photo within hours and it did a perfect job of interpreting all of the fields correctly. Unfortunately, this is not a practical solution, and you might as well spend the time inputting your business cards by hand.

In the end, I would think the goal for CardSnap is to be an application that can scan business cards efficiently, effortlessly, and accurately. So far, the application succeeds in only some of these areas. It has a very simple interface, so it is possible to scan multiple business cards in a short amount of time. The program integrates well with your built-in contacts list, and it has shown high levels of accuracy when photo quality is high. I would love to see push notifications for business cards that have been reviewed as I had to open the application to check on the status. I understand the high price tag ($9.99) since CardSnap is more of an advanced application that recognizes fields rather than just translating images to text. However, for this price, one needs to demand better recognition for blurry images or wait until the camera on the iPhone improves. Perhaps, the 3GS will have better results. If you would like to try CardSnap before plunking down $10, there is a lite version, but it will still cost you $0.99. The limitation is that the app will only read 6 fields as opposed to 17. My recommendation is that CardSnap will be worth it if you receive and need to store a lot of business cards on a regular basis and you are willing to invest in either the iPhone 3GS and/or the Griffin Clarifi case.

Note: This application is currently only compatible with English keyboards.

ScreenShots

I have had 9-Toolbox on my iPhone for quite some time now and I have to admit that, at first, I was slightly overwhelmed by the application. 9-Toolbox really is nine applications rolled into one. Because of the extensiveness of the app…I will just give you a brief description about each of the nine tools that are available in the app which include; Currency, Date Calc, Days Until, Holidays, Inclinometer, Loan, My Girl’s Day, Tip Calc and Units.

Currency is a tool that allows you to convert currency rates. You can convert the rates between; USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, MXN, CNY, AUD, CHF and KRW. All you do is select which currency you would like to convert from and which currency you would like to convert to…then just enter the amount and it will automatically do the conversion. You do have the option to delete any of the currencies types that you would never use. You can also move the currencies types around putting the ones you use more often at the top of the list and the ones you use less often at the bottom of the list.

The Date Calc tool allows you to calculate a few things. The first is that you can calculate the number of days between two dates. For example…my husband’s Birthday is August 19th so, I can calculate how many are left until his Birthday (106…if you are curious! ). However, you do not have to start with the current day, you can enter any two dates and it will calculate that number of days between them. Second, you can enter a date and have it add a certain number of days to that date, in order to figure out another date. For example…you could enter the date March 10th, 2009 and then have it add 486 days to that date. It would calculate that March 10th, 2009 plus 486 days gives you July 8th 2010. Third, you can figure out what day of the week a certain date will fall on. For example…if I wanted to know what day of the week Doug’s Birthday will be on, I can just enter August 19th, 2009 and it would tell me that August 19th, 2009 is a Wednesday. Forth, you can get a Lunar(Chinese)/Solar Converter…I have no idea what that is or how this part of the app works but, it looks cool!

Days Until is a simple tool that allows you to keep track of how many days there are until a certain event. The nice things about this tool is that you can enter more than one event and then scroll through them Cover Flow style. It will display a photo for the “event,” the number of days until the event, what the event is (ex; Concert, Doug’s Birthday…), and the exact date of the event. You are able to add, remove and rearrange the events.

Holidays is a tool that lists the dates of the all Holidays for the US, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan, Jewish Holidays and Saudi Arabia. The list displays the Holiday, the number of days until the Holiday and the exact date of the Holiday. You can change the year to see what days the Holidays were in past years or what date they will be in up-coming years. You can also remove and rearrange the Countries to fit your preference.

Inclinometer has two options; Surface and Bubble. The Surface option will give you information based on your iPhone laying on a flat surface and the Bubble option is basically like a level. Within each of those options, you have the ability to get the units in Degrees, Slope or Pitch. You also have the ability to calibrate your iPhone or iPod Touch which you can lock/unlock.

Loan is a tool that will calculate the monthly payment, monthly average interest, total interest and total amount of a loan. You enter the amount of the loan, the term of the loan, the interest rate on the loan and the start date of the loan and it does the rest. You can view the full authorization schedule for the loan and even email it if you would like.

My Girl’s Day is a tool that allows you to keep track of your (or your wife’s) menstrual periods. Once you enter in your last period’s info (start date, end date and cycle length), you are given an estimate of when your next period will be as well as a color coded calendar displaying which days you were (or are going to) actually have your period, the days in which you have an increased probability of becoming pregnant and the day of ovulation. The more periods your enter info for, the more accurate the information is. Also, you can edit the estimated info for your next period if it is not accurate once you actually have it. Good for general info and for those trying to get pregnant!

Tip Calc is exactly that…a tip calculator. You enter the amount of the bill, the tax rate, and the tip percentage. It will then tell you the tip amount and the total bill. You also have the option to split the bill between a certain number of people in which it will then tell you the total amount each person has to pay. In the Settings for this tool you have the ability to turn on/off the Tax and the Split options.

Units is a handy tool that allows you to convert between different units of measurement for; Area, Length, Pressure, Temperature, Volume and Weight.

Obviously there is a ton going on in this application. I personally like that it has a lot of useful tools all in one place, instead of having nine seperate applications on my SpringBoard. The user interface really is pretty nice once you get used to the crammed feel. Overall, I would say that it is worth the normal $4.99 but, if you hurry, it is currently on sale for free (which is an extremely good deal!).