The iPhone Kills the Business Card

If you want to do the business networking thing right, you'd better know who you met and when. Thank heavens keeping those pesky contacts straight is getting easier with a new generation of smartphone business card reader apps that turn your Apple AAPL iPhone, Google GOOG Android device, Microsoft MSFT WinMo mobile phone or even your Symbian OS-based phone into an on-the-go, paperless business contact management tool. Smartphone business card readers are apps that can read and understand images, phone numbers, addresses and other info off business cards via photos taken by powerful cameras on the new generation of Verizon VZ Droids, T-Mobile myTouch 4Gs or Sprint S HTC EVOs. Instead of taking a contact's cards, stacking 'em up and transcribing them later -- if you are especially diligent -- you snap a picture of the card, feed it into the scanning app and confirm the information is correct. Then hand that card right back to your new business buddy. Not surprisingly, business card readers have become hot apps on the iTunes App Store, Android Market and Windows Marketplace. But selecting the right one isn't easy. Here are my picks for the latest and greatest in scanner apps: CamCard Business Card Reader for iPhone, Android and WinMo ($6.99) IntSig Information For data recognition, cross-platform support and all-around business use, it is tough to beat IntSig's CamCard Business Card Reader. For $7, your smartphone becomes an all-in-one business card scanning solution. Load the app, take the picture, scan the info and you're done. To read the rest, head over to TheStreet.com