iLounge

Apple has released Cards, its new app designed to allow users to create and mail their own personalized, professionally crafted cards directly from an iPhone or iPod touch. Announced last week during Apple’s iPhone Event, Cards is a free app whereby users can choose to create their own personalized, physical greeting cards from a selection of 21 different designs. Users add personalized messages and photos from the camera or iOS photo library and then choose a recipient from their iOS Contacts and submit the order to Apple which then prints the greeting card and mails it out to the recipient. Printed cards use a professional letterpress technique and are crafted from 100 percent cotton paper with an elegant debased design.

Available card designs are grouped into six themes for different occasions: Thank You, Holiday, New Baby, Birthday, Love and Travel. Location integration can automatically fill in the users’ current location when choosing a card from the Travel category or insert the location that a photo was taken when adding a photo to a card. Cards mailed to U.S. addresses can be tracked via the U.S. Postal Service Intelligent Mail barcode system and push notifications are used to provide the user with delivery status and other tracking information. A history of cards is also saved automatically making it easy to send the same card to more than one recipient. Cards is available from the App Store as a free download; users are charged via in-app purchase to send individual cards at $3 per card for U.S. destinations or $5 per card for international destinations.