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Former Apple employee Sam Sung auctioning off his business card for charity
Update: With four days to go, Sam's little charity auction is doing pretty well... the top bid is currently a hair above US$80,000. High-end luxury automobile vs. framed t-shirt and business card, you choose! If you've ever happened upon a list of the most interesting business cards, you've undoubtedly stumbled across the business card of an Apple employee named, of all things, Sam Sung. For a little while, Sung worked as an Apple retail store specialist in Vancouver before leaving for a recruiting agency last year. Now comes word via Pocket-Lint that Sung found one of his last remaining "Sam Sung" business cards and is auctioning it off on eBay in an effort to raise money for charity. The eBay listing reads in part: I came across one of my old business cards the other day when it fell out of a book. So, with a view to raising money for a very deserving charity, I'm auctioning the only "Apple Sam Sung" business card I have left and I'm going to donate ALL of the proceeds [minus eBay fees] to Children's Wish, BC & Yukon - a not-for-profit that grants wishes to sick children. ... I had a great time working for Apple and would recommend it to anyone. I hope my old business card will go to another fellow Apple enthusiast with a sense of humour and the desire to help raise some money for a good cause. Although the auction is for my business card alone, I have framed it alongside my old uniform [as seen in the picture] and I will arrange to courier it [frame, t-shirt and lanyard INCLUDED] to you. Good luck. The auction ends in 9 days and the winning bid at the moment stands at $1,000, a marked increase from an initial bid of just $0.99. Here's what the card looks like up close. And lastly, you might recall that Sung even received a subtle shoutout in Samsung's well-done Super Bowl commercial starring Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan a few years back.
IntelliPaper SwivelCards: Business cards with brains
TUAW usually doesn't talk about crowdfunding campaigns until they're live, but in the case of IntelliPaper SwivelCards, I thought I'd make an exception. The company is hoping to launch a Kickstarter campaign later this month and sent me a pack of their business cards to try out. What's so special about the cards? Well, they fold origami-like into a USB drive with a tiny amount of capacity -- Get Info showed it to be about 5.1MB -- that can hold a link to custom landing web pages, Dropbox folders, or even screen sharing software for demonstrations and presentations. Here's a video explaining how it works: What's impressive about the SwivelCards is not just the technology -- printing a USB drive onto paper -- but the fact that it enables those who hand out the cards to pull up analytics on exactly who has actually looked at the information. Having brought home a gaggle of USB flash drives from trade shows that usually have tons of empty space and a few marketing brochures on them, I think this is a great idea. Rather than wasting a perfectly good USB drive, just give the person an inexpensive paper business card that contains a clickable link to those same marketing materials. I did notice one oddity in the video and on the card -- a QR code. This makes sense, since it's quite easy to use any one of a number of iOS apps to read those codes from an iPhone or iPad since those devices don't have USB ports. So for mobile devices, the QR code serves the same purpose as the linked and configurable file on the USB drive. If you're interested in backing the SwivelCards Kickstarter campaign once it goes live, be sure to visit swivelcard.info and sign up to be notified.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for May 7, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
LinkedIn and Evernote partner to make business cards useful again
Fact: everyone likes doing business with the guy who remembers them. With that in mind, LinkedIn and Evernote just announced a new partnership to bring the Rolodex into the 21st century, and it all starts with a photo of a standard business card. Evernote will instantly digitize it and bring in any relevant LinkedIn info. You're then given the option to connect with that CEO, secretary or digital prophet on LinkedIn or add their contact info to your address book. However, things get interesting as your business relationship blossoms. Over time, you can add things like audio from a meeting, documents, or even key emails with him or her to the card's page in Evernote.
RE/MAX Regional Services using Passbook for business cards
We've already seen Apple's Passbook app used for sports tickets, gift cards and boarding passes, but leave it to the real estate industry to embrace one of its more interesting uses: business cards. RE/MAX is partnering with digital business card provider Vizibility to offer virtual, Passbook-compatible cards for all 4,500 of its real estate agents. The digital IDs include details like basic contact information and links to public profiles on sites such as LinkedIn. There's even a feature that allows you to see which contacts you share with whoever's card you are viewing. As the official press release notes, Vizibility's joint venture with RE/MAX marks the biggest consolidated push for Passbook-enabled business cards yet. But whether the functionality will become a major trend in the business world remains to be seen.
Moo.com working on NFC-equipped business cards, kicks off limited beta program today
Do you recall those fancy business cards that took a design cue straight out of your adored Facebook Timeline? Well, the company behind such neat idea is now working on bringing cards equipped with NFC technology, which will allow folks to add things like email address, URLs and even pinpoint locations for easy access via any maps application. Of course, most of this information can already be shared using typical business cards, but one of the biggest pros with the Near Field Communication method will be the ability to change this info at any given time without having to purchase a whole new set. Moo plans on having the NFC-ready cards available to the masses by 2013 -- that said, the startup's currently running a beta program where it will allow 150,000 lucky folks get a complimentary card with their order of a traditional sheet. There's a video demo down below for you to check out, and you should probably act fast if you're looking to get one for yourself ahead of the extensive rollout.
Engineer makes light-up business cards with 555 timer, proves PCB skills
Sure, there have been some pretty creative variations on the standard paper business card, but if you're looking to make a career in electronics engineering, card stock isn't necessarily the best option for material. Such was the case for one student, who had the canny idea to make a card that demonstrates his printed circuit board know-how. He used a 555 timer that outputs a clock to the LEDs on the biz card, and placing a nine-volt battery on the terminals sets off the mini light show. See for yourself in the video below.
Rumor: Keiji Inafune's new company named 'Comcept'
In a chance encounter with ex-Capcom creative director Keiji Inafune, alleged Japanese securities analyst Koji Ichi reportedly received a business card from Inafune denoting his new company, "Comcept" (likely not that Comcept). The analyst claims he bumped into Inafune "for the first time in two and a half years" in the Akasaka-Mitsuke neighborhood of Tokyo, where the two supposedly exchanged cards and Inafune apparently revealed Comcept is "a company that he's starting." Ichi provided no further details as to the nature of Inafune's purported new venture. Meanwhile, Inafune has kept mum about his new endeavors on his personal blog, instead choosing to reflect on back pain, among many, many other things. But not his future business plans, unfortunately.
Video game characters need business cards too
Getting in touch with heroes can be difficult. Typically, they only bother to roll out of bed and show up when something goes really wrong.
Prizmo provides optical character recognition on the iPhone
Prizmo is a popular OCR (optical character recognition) app for the Mac that allows you to scan documents and things like business cards easily and quickly, avoiding the step of typing them in by hand. Now, Creaceed has announced that it's bringing the app to the iPhone, so you'll be able to make use of the really powerful OCR software, all on the go using the iPhone's HD camera as a scanner. As you can see above, it's pretty impressive. It's not just the fact that you can scan for text (I believe there are a few apps, including Evernote, that already allow you to do this), but all of the options that come along with it, including adjusting for brightness and calibrating the scanner. Anything you scan gets included in a Spotlight search, and you can also share whatever you put in right off to Dropbox or similar Cloud apps. Very cool. Creaceed hasn't set a date or price for the app officially yet, so look for it soon on the App Store.
Hold your corporate contempt in this Famicom controller business card case
Does that corporate tie around your neck feel like it's getting tighter and tighter? Well, loosen it up by putting your little Patrick Bateman calling cards in this NES controller-inspired case. The aluminum shell can start protecting your analog contact information as soon as this October for ¥2,900 ($30). [Thanks, Dean; Via Gearfuse]
The latest present from Club Nintendo Japan: Mii business cards
Now that we actually have our own Club Nintendo, which features only rewards that have already been released in Japan, we have even more interest in Nintendo of Japan's version. We feel like pretty much anything from the Japanese Club Nintendo catalog could become available to us at some future date. But maybe not the latest prize. The newest promotion offered by the club allows Wii owners to trade in 150 of their Club Nintendo Points for a set of thirty custom Mii business cards from the Digicam Print Channel. We have our doubts about ever seeing the Digicam Print Channel here (although we welcome surprises, Nintendo), so we aren't saving our points for these cards. However, this is significant in that it involves the exchange of Club Nintendo points for content from a Wii Channel. Want to see Club Nintendo's greatest gifts to Japan and Europe? OF COURSE YOU DO. So go here.
Win a CardScan Executive for Mac
TUAW reported on the new CardScan Executive for Mac in late September, and now you have a chance to win one in an exclusive TUAW giveaway. It's the sweet little scanner seen at right. No, you don't get the iPhone along with it -- that's only in the picture to give you a sense of how small the CardScan really is.We have a nicely repackaged review unit all ready to ship to one lucky reader to be randomly selected via the comments. To enter, leave a comment and tell us approximately how many business cards (other than your own) you currently have stashed around your home / office / bedroom. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment telling us how many business cards you currently have. The comment must be left before October 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: CardScan Executive for Mac ($259.99) Click Here for complete Official Rules. Good luck!
TUAW Review: CardScan Executive for Mac
If you're one of those people who maintains a huge collection of business cards, you're going to love this product. CardScan has come out with a Mac version of their CardScan Executive scanner and software, and it looks like a winner. The US$259.99 package includes the small (3.5" x 6.4" x 1.6") scanner seen above, a CD-ROM with Mac and Windows versions of CardScan's contact management software, and a USB cable. What? No power brick? Nope -- it's bus-powered so you can eliminate one more power plug. The scanner worked fine for me plugged into a USB 2.0 hub.Installation is simple -- put the CD-ROM into your drive, then drag the application file to the Applications folder. The final step? Plug the USB cable into the scanner and an available USB port on your Mac, and a light on the CardScan lets you know you're ready to start entering business cards. That light glows red when you first hook up the CardScan, then turns blue the first time you fire up the CardScan software. Read on to see how this all works.
Nintendo launches Digicam Print Channel [update]
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Nintendo_of_Japan_launches_Digicam_Print_Channel'; Nintendo of Japan has just started a new Wii channel that allows users to view and even print digital photos from the Wii. Through a collaboration with Fujifilm, Japanese Wii users can now order prints of digital camera photos through the Wii for 30 yen (28 cents) each. Users can also purchase special Wii Photo Books for 1,575 yen ($14,71), or deluxe Mario-themed Wii Photo Books for 2,480 yen ($23.16).In addition, the service offers meishi (like Japanese business cards, but even more prevalent) in multiple colors, emblazoned with the Mii of the user's choice, at a rate of 500 yen per 30 cards.We think this is a really cool and unique feature that we wouldn't mind trying out oursel -- oh, wait, we're supposed to be "hardcore gamers." We almost forgot to hate it and blame this new service for the death of gaming! Oh, man, how embarrassing.Update: Now with more video![Via NeoGAF] Love the imports? Then keep up to date with the import scene by keeping up to date with us! Want more info on the various Channels, both at home and abroad? We've got you covered through our Channels category!
WoW MOO cards!
I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that aside from being a writer here, I'm also a devoted WoW Insider reader. So when all the news from Blizzcon came out, I was glued to it from here in my own office. However, as I also knew Dragon*Con was just around the corner, I was scouring the writing of my co-workers for tips for Dragon*Con. This led to a reminder by Robin that I needed to get business cards, as well as a mention of something called "Moo cards."Being a great big fan of things with completely silly and incongruous names, I clicked on the link and found the most interesting little culture had sprung up around these wee tiny little Moo cards. There are people leaving art Moos for others to find, Moo swaps where you mail your Moo card(s) in trade for other people's Moos, and even an around-the-world Moo. But as I was going to Dragon*Con, it struck me as a perfect time to check into these Moo cards and get some for myself!Over the course of planning, I linked the cards to Elizabeth H., who also ordered some for Dragon*Con. Almost as soon as I received my cards, the folks over on the Wonderland Blog posted pictures of a booklet of the coolest Moo stickers made entirely with WoW in-game icons. Thus the WoW Moo-vement began around here.While not as serious-looking as the official Weblogs, Inc. business card is, I really must admit, I love my WoW MOO cards. To me, they fit the overall spirit of WoW Insider (fun!) as well as finally giving me a use for the gigs of WoW screen-shots I have on my computer. I'd be willing to bet as Elizabeth and I hand them out at Dragon*Con to other folks we meet, our tiny World of Warcraft Moo cards won't soon be forgotten! %Gallery-6388%
E3 scavenger hunt update: 5 hours to go!
Today is the last day, and all E3 attendees hoping to snag two super-cool Joystiq T-shirts need to find at least 10 Joystiq bloggers and grab a business card as proof. Bring the cards to the AOL booth by 12:00PM PST to claim your prizes. Happy hunting, and see you soon!
E3 scavenger hunt: win a Joystiq t-shirt
Are you attending E3? Want to win a cool Joystiq T-shirt? Joystiq bloggers will be swarming the show floor every day this week, and it is up to you to hunt us down (figuratively speaking, of course).All staffers are wearing one of two shirts, pictured here and here; we will all be carrying business cards, as well. Your job is to come up, say hello, and take a card. If you collect at least 7 Joystiq business cards, then you are a Royal Crown Chinpoko master. All winners can stop by the AOL booth after 12:00PM (PST) to claim a shirt of their choice.Okay, you have your mission. Get to it!
