So, the dust has settled and we can congratulate start-up photo notecard printing company Touchnote on getting their mobile app out the door in a mere 5 weeks, i.e. just in time to have it included in the Ovi launch FAIL.
Thanks to the massive teething problems the Ovi store’s experienced today, you can’t yet find Touchnote for Mobile if you search for it, but we’re told this link will take you there directly, eventually.
There are four apps available; the free central app, compatible with all Series 60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 and 2 phones, which comes with one free card credit so that users can trial the service. They can then buy extra card credits from the store, like prepaid mobile top-ups.
Using the app, people can take a photo or select an existing image from their phone, add a message and the recipient’s address and send it directly from their mobile handset via WiFi or the phone’s mobile data connection.
A physical greeting card is then created from the image and sent in the post. Within the UK, these photo cards are normally delivered on the next working day, provided the card is ordered before noon. It’s worth noting that Touchnote for Mobile is the only Ovi Store app that delivers users a tangible product.
The launch is a terrific first step into mobile services for the privately-backed startup that will no doubt help expand its user base beyond the “tens of thousands” of visitors they started seeing after they launched a third-party API in March.
Razia Ahamed, Touchnote’s business development and marketing manager, says that step increased web traffic tenfold and led to the present situation which sees 40% of Touchnotes orders come from outside the UK — double what it was two months ago.
It also embraces that demographic of users who may feel very comfortable snapping shots on their mobile, but hasn’t yet started using Facebook, Picasa or any other web-based photo sharing service.
