CardMunch is an iPhone app that lets you scan business card apps to add information to your contact list. The service might not sound unique, but what sets it apart is that there’s a human element — real people at CardMunch read the cards and enter the information manually, allowing the company to offer a 100% accuracy guarantee. That’s more than I’ve come to expect from other card scanners. But it’s not the kind of service that comes cheap… or at least it wasn’t until yesterday.
Originally CardMunch had charged 33 cents per scanned card, with 35 scans running $9.99. But this week LinkedIn announced that it had acquired CardMunch. Now the service is available for free.
CardMunch users can continue to use the app without a LinkedIn login. The only difference for now is that the service is free of charge. Eventually LinkedIn expects to add new functionality which may require a LinkedIn account.
LinkedIn is a social network with a focus on professionals, with a strong focus on keeping in touch with business contacts. The acquisition makes a lot of sense, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually saw CardMunch functionality added to LinkedIn’s mobile apps.
CardMunch is available as a free download from the App Store. It only supports the iPhone. I received an error message when I tried to install the app on my 4th generation iPod touch (even though it has a camera).
via Business Insider
