Mobile app taps Facebook for personalized greeting cards

Cleverbug's birthday card for Kate Middleton's 31st birthday on Sunday.

(Credit: Cleverbug)
An Irish startup is looking to disrupt the greeting card industry with the launch of a mobile app that allows people to quickly create and send printed birthday cards to friends and family without making a visit to the greeting card aisle and post office.

Dublin-based Cleverbug announced today the availability of its iPhone and iPad app, which allows users to send personalized cards with photos from Facebook from the palm of their hand. Available for download at the Apple App Store, the app harnesses Facebook's social graph to select relevant photos and card designs for the recipient.

The app informs users of upcoming birthdays and selects images based on the relationship between the card sender and recipient, as well photo tagging and photo "like
s." Alternative photos can also be selected from Facebook albums, the iPhone Camera Roll, and immediate snapshots.

The finished product is then printed within 24 hours and can be sent to addresses around the world for $2.99 (plus postage costs) or sent back to the user for personal delivery. Senders can also share digital versions of the card on the recipient's Facebook Timeline.

"Everyone who uses sees a unique, personalized store of cards that has been built according to their friends, family connections, relationships, photos and Facebook activity," Cleverbug founder and CEO Kealan Lennon said in a statement. "With purchasing on smartphones doubling in the last year, Cleverbug is at the forefront of a massive trend in mobile commerce -- giving them new ways to connect with a timeless tradition."



by Steven Musil via CNET