Are you an iPhone-equipped world traveler? If so, then you're going to love Postino, the latest app from AnguriaLab. This mobile application lets you take iPhone photos and turn them into postcards which you can send to your family and friends. And no, they don't mean "e-cards" (although Postino supports those, too) - they mean actual, printed out, physical cards sent through the good ol' fashioned snail mail service.
Postino is not the first iPhone application that allows you to send postcards via your mobile device. However, it's definitely the one to beat at this point. Their competitors, Go Postal and TapTap Cards, both have one major limitation: postcards can be sent to U.S. addresses only. They also don't offer an e-card option.
When you launch the Postino app, you can choose to snap a photo or choose one from your library. You're able to adjust the image by zooming in and positioning it however you want and optionally choose a frame to go around the photo. Then you enter in your message, signature, and the address of the person you wish to send the card to. If you'd like, you can also optionally draw the signature on the phone's screen using your finger so it looks more like an actual signature.
If you enter in an email address, the "postcard" is sent virtually, like an e-card. If you enter in a street address however, a postcard will be printed out on high-quality paper and mailed for you. You can even have your GPS location included in the card! The only cost to you is the price of the "virtual stamp" - $1.99 (U.S.) which is paid via Paypal.
Postino is available now in the iTunes App Store for free.
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I'd like to give this a try. I'll probably go with TapTap because it's the only one that has an application that doesn't require an iphone.
That app is great. I just tried it with a physical card, everything worked smothly, and apparently it always costs 1,99 Dollar for a card, doesn't matter to which country.
Now I am excited to see the card and the print quality. This could become my new, favourite holiday app! Nice business model btw. If they can convince as many people as possible to use Postino for sending holiday cards, they could make a nice buck.
Go Postal and TapTap Cards have another disadvantage: they're only available in the U.S. App Store.
Coolest app in about 6 months...very easy to use and pics look incredible! Have fun with it.
Love it! Just sent a free eCard and will now try the snail mail variety.
The only way a postcard would be a better idea is if it were actually handwritten. This is no better than an email, in fact worse since it consumes paper, ink, and more. Welcome back to the 20th century.
Great App and I look forward to trying it out. I hope l-mail.com come out with something similar for letters.
to Jean-Michel Decombe: I completely understand your point of view, however, many of us have parents, uncles, gran-parents and others, which, due to their age, didn't dig into the digital era. They're the ones whose eyes look vague when you're talking digital jargon. And those people enjoy quite a bit to know from you too, not only your facebook friends. This is specially true when you're abroad.