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TUAW's Daily App: Cartolina
Cartolina is an app that I noticed over on the great Drawn! illustration blog. While you might not want to get it yourself (it's the thought that counts with greeting cards, and I think that, with both cards and letters, the real thing is still better), you can't disagree that the art of this one is pretty incredible. Cartolina is originally a stationery company, printing cards and letterheads with elaborate and elegant designs on them, but they've also released an iPhone app. For US$2.99, you get access to nine different artistic templates, which can then be made into beautiful email or text messages. It's not a big deal (and it's no substitute for actually writing someone a letter -- something I already don't do enough of), but for classing up the standard congratulatory or simply nice email or text message, it'll work wonders. The app also has a built-in calendar with reminders of major events, and the app promises even more designs and features coming soon. Again, if you already have a schedule and a plan for sending greeting cards, the app probably won't interest you that much. But it's always nice to send someone a reminder that you're thinking of them, and having Cartolina around might help you do just that.
Thwapr: Mobile-to-mobile video sharing from one of the creators of QuickTime
It's not every day that I get to view a product introduction on my iPhone. In fact, today may have been the first time ever that a product intro has been done through mobile messaging. Eric Hoffert was one of the original developers of QuickTime and is now the CTO for Thwapr, so he really understands video. Thwapr provides mobile-to-mobile video sharing -- in other words, it's a way to create a video on your iPhone and share it with friends on a variety of mobile phone platforms. The idea is that you or your recipients don't need to download any special apps, and that the video is shown in its best possible format for the mobile device that receives it. That's the idea. However, I found the beta of Thwapr somewhat clunky to use, and I'm not sure I really "get" the reason for the service as it is currently set up. To start with, if I want to share a video message or photo with a friend (at least a short one), I can use MMS. If it's a longer video or I want to share it with the world, I'm going to use something like YouTube and send friends a link. I asked Leigh Newsome, Thwapr's VP of User Experience, why I wouldn't just use MMS?
