While NFC devices can already exchange contact details, Bcard saves contact details for you to your online account, rather than your device. Exporting is possible via CSV files though. While this could be less convenient than saving directly to your device, the service acts to remind you of who you made contact with (literally and figuratively), and lets you assign actions to those details, such as a reminder to call the person back later to follow up on a deal, etc.
Bcard has been produced by ITN, "International Touch'n'Go Solutions".
Nokia Conversations explains further:
After you’ve stored a person’s data, you click ‘qualify’ on your screen. You get a list of actions, and choose what you want to do with your new contact. You may want to call the person within a week or two, or perhaps send a meeting invite. You can also edit this list of actions yourself to make it fit your business needs.
Bcard is available for all Symbian [Nokia] Belle devices with NFC. Currently it’s only used by event organizers, but Jeff tells me ITN can’t wait for NFC to become more mainstream, so they can start offering the app to regular conference attendees.
“This is all about closing sales deals,” Jeff tells me. “We’re helping people to manage their data so they can do their jobs!”
I asked Jeff whether Bcard has the functionality to connect people on LinkedIn – apparently that’s not available just yet, but it’s in the plans.
If you wish to use NFC for connecting on LinkedIn, you can soon tap into Nokia’s own LinkedIn application. You can either read a person’s LinkedIn tag stored on their event badge, or tap two NFC-enabled phones together to exchange invites. The app is available for NFC phones on Symbian and MeeGo and it’s coming to the Nokia Store very soon.
See the links below for our reviews of NFC enabled Nokia Belle devices.
Nokia 700
- Nokia 700 Part One, Hardare
- Nokia 700 Part Two, Camera, Multimedia, and NFC
- Nokia 700 Part Three, Applications and verdict
Nokia 701