Capturing Business Cards

I am an ardent proponent for using scanner instead of a phone camera in document capture.  But in the case of business cards, I am a believer in using a phone camera and mobile app.  I've written a very long white paper on the advantages of scanners over phone cameras for documents.  But business cards are different case.  We don't capture business cards to save a copy of the card, but to simply extract the information on the card.  Capturing the business card is a transfer operation, that is, you capture the image of the card, the app recognizes both the information on the card and what type of information it is (discerning a phone number from a zip code), and then transfer the contact info to your contacts app on your phone.    For most business users, they store their entire contact list on their smartphone.  Consumers largely do the same.

So now to choose an app for your phone to do the work.  I've tried many apps.  First, I'm looking for a free app, especially to test.  Several do an adequate job, but the free versions only allow you to capture 2-5 cards per week.  If I found the right app, I'd buy it, usually in the range of $0.99 - $4.99.

But I came across one that really caught my attention.  LinkedIn has an app called CardMunch (v 3.2).  Here's why it's so great:

• CardMunch captures the business card and converts it with great accuracy
• One tap allows you then transfer the info to your contact app.
• Another tap let's you share this new contact with a friend or coworker, very practical.
• Another tap initiates a connection between you and this new contact on  LinkedIn.  
• It's free, let's no forget that.  But it makes total sense.  LinkedIn has invested in this app because it has a hook to further spread their business/social networking product, LinkedIn.  If your new contact is already a LinkedIn member, you get a their photo in the contact info and access to their public profile.  Once you're connected in  LinkedIn, you have greater access to them per their permissions.

CardMunch is currently only available on the iOS platform (iPhone/iPad2/iPod touch 4).  Their blog says support for Android and Blackberry users is coming soon.

LodgeNet Mobile App - Very promising

UPDATE 3/21: I've been in contact with the team at LodgeNet Mobile. A+ for responsiveness and problem resolution. They got in contact with the hotel, made sure the service was enabled and modified the Menu screen so that Go Mobile was not only there but clearly visible to the guest. And my compliments to them for having an active social marketing response team. They are clearly involved with their online customers.

The remote control in your hotel room is perhaps the dirtiest thing in the room.  For that reason alone, I carry alcohol pads in my briefcase to wipe down the remote when I get to the room, everytime.  I also find the hotel TV remote to often have dead batteries.  So when I saw that there was an app that turned my smartphone into a TV remote, I was encouraged to try something new and useful.

The free app is called LodgeNet Mobile, available for iPhone and Android.  Installation went smoothly, the app looks good.  Tonight I arrived at my first hotel room (Four Points, Pleasanton, CA) since downloading the app and it was a LodgeNet system so it was "showtime". The instructions are simple enough.

• Turn on the TV.
• Press "Menu" on the TV remote and select Go Mobile.
• Enter the Connect Code from screen, press Connect.

Well there was a Menu button on the remote, but the TV screen displayed nothing like "Go Mobile".  I searched and I'm a pretty intuitive guy, but nothing offered up the Connect Code.  Fortunately, the app had a support phone number.  After being on hold for 11 mins, I was finally connected.  The tech said the hotel has the service and it should be active, but it was not.  He tried restarting the system remotely, but it made no difference.

What started as a great idea was a poor user experience.  When something like this fails the first time, you wonder if this is the exception or if poor execution is widespread. I expect the app works but I'm sure it is not easy to coordinate a service like this with so many independent hotels.   Luckily I have more alcohol pads in my bag.

Who is Xfinity Streampix Competing Against?

(hint: it isn’t Netflix, Hulu & Amazon)

Xfinity launched its video streaming service last month among other services from Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime.  The streaming video market has always been considered the main event in movie rentals for the future.  Netflix acknowledged years ago that they could not make money mailing DVDs around the country.  So what is new and different about Xfinity Streampix and how are they competing in this online arena?

Streampix is Free with Xfinity double- and triple-play subscribers, $4.99/month for others.  By comparison, Netflix and Hulu Plus charge $7.99/month, and Amazon Prime is $80/yr which amounts to $6.67/month (but it also includes free two-day shipping on Amazon purchases and one Kindle book rental per month).

While Streampix brings Xfinity into the streaming video arena, it may not be an apples to apples comparison with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon.  Afterall, it’s a free service for their customers so it more likely an attempt to attract and keep Xfinity cable subscribers.  As Neflix painfully learned last summer, the subscription customer base is the cash cow, and don’t mess with it.  Xfinity has over 14 million subscribers making huge monthly payments, some paying as much as $200/month.  Any risk of Xfinity customers switching to Verizon FiOS or DirecTV or DishNetwork has a tremendous financial impact.

So how do you access Streampix? Streampix content is available in three simple, direct and convenient ways:

•  a component of Xfinity OnDemand feature via the Xfinity cable box system, under Premium Channels
•  on the web through your browser
•  through the Xfinity TV mobile app for smartphone or tablet.

But don’t expect new movie releases or last night’s episode of Modern Family on Streampix yet.  The content is mainly “classic” and less recent movies and TV shows.  Selection will likely grow.  If you’re an Xfinity double- or triple-play subscriber, it’s a no brainer.  It’s free and a great way for you to assess your appetite for streaming video and if the Streampix content is what you want to watch.

It's all about the Network

I was thinking about about a prediction from years ago that news would not be dominated by the major media in the future but in the hands of the people.  It sounded too chaotic, everyone talking at once and no one listening.  But some recent events have made me see how real this is becoming.  Viral everything, video, tweats, links, txts, for good and bad.  I get so much information now, not from CNN or NBC or Fox (god help us), but from YouTube and Twitter and Facebook.  And of course, the people and sources you follow or friend or like defines the content, and perhaps the credibility of what you read and watch.  It's all about choices.  Sure, I may still seek out the major networks to what's happening on the battlefield in Afghanistan for example because my twitter circle is not reporting from there, but I could follow some sources who are there.

Sunday was the one year anniversary of the Japan earthquake, tsunami and disaster that followed.  I sourced almost all my news and video through YouTube links, not CNN.

The KONY 2012 video now has over 75 million views in about a week.  The story on the Today Show was an afterthought, an attempt at validation of the viral nature of the video.  It didn't matter, we were already talking about it and entire day before the network did.  And the purpose of the video was not just to educate the world of the atrocities of Joseph Kony, but show the government that the people cared and wanted political pressure and resourced maintained for his capture.  The people spoke without Brian Williams to tell the story for them.

But I was thinking about how this change came about?  It occurred to me that the biggest enabler to this shift is the network(s).  No, not NBC, CBS, ABC, that's just too old school.  It is the YouTube, Twitter, FB, txt msg network.  We are interconnected with these media services, accessing them at home, at work, and with our mobile devices, again part of another network (3G/4G, WiFi, cable, fiber, satellite).

Networks built on networks.  Without these new networks, we're back in 1978, sharing jokes via the copier, getting our news on channel 5, and picking up the phone to say "did you hear?"  I can't imagine going back.