Worldcard Mobile business card reader & scanner iPhone app

This app is designed to take the annoyance out of manually transferring contact information from business cards to your phone. Trying to stuff hundreds of business cards into your wallet seems old-fashioned and impractical in these modern times, so this app succeeds where others have failed at providing a simple solution to the problem.

It works by capturing the card’s data from a photo, splitting it into separate fields and adding it to your contact list. All you need to do is take a picture of the card using your iPhone camera and the app does the rest.

The technology used here isn’t exactly new, as there are several business card readers currently jostling for attention in the app store and needless to say, the quality varies. So what makes this one stand out? Well, for one, it’s very reliable. I scanned a variety of different cards – from the plain to the pretentious – and on every occasion it read the data accurately. No matter what the format, font, colour or text size, every card was successfully transferred and stored at the touch of a few buttons.

Before you hit the install button though, there are a few things to bear in mind. One of the app’s downsides is that it only works on iPhone 3GS. If you have 3G or 2G, you will need to download a gadget app, such as Griffin Clarifi, to enhance your camera’s photo quality – but that will set you back an extra £20. It also works on the iPod Touch but as the device does not have a camera, the app can only read cards which have previously been scanned and saved. It should work well with the newly announced iPhone 4 and it’s higher quality camera.

The simplicity of Worldcard Mobile’s reader is its biggest selling point. There’s no extra hassle by trying to put the contact details into the right fields, as the app can detect exactly what information to put where. If you’re a business-type who’s completely reliant on having accurate and up-to-date contact details for clients at your fingertips, then this app is definitely for you.

Price: £3.49
Available here