I hadn't really noticed, but it turns out there are lots and lots of postcard apps in the App Store. It makes sense, the iPhone (and to an extent, the iPod touch) is a great virtual postcard device. Snap a photo while on vacation, add a quick message and send it off via e-mail, all from within the iPhone itself. It's actually a neat example of old and new communication methods fusing together.

Yesterday, Steve looked at Postcard Express and today I'm looking at Freeverse's Postman 2.0 (iTunes link). Released just a few weeks ago, Postman was one of first applications to take advantage of some of iPhone OS 3.0's capabilities, Google Maps integration and mail sheets.

With Postman 2.0, Freeverse has redesigned the interface (using the talents of the Iconfactory's David Lanham), added themes, made it easier to position text and improved stability with other services.

The Basics

Like most other postcard apps, Postman 2.0 lets you take an image from your iPhone's camera, a stored image on your iPhone or iPod touch or use a pre-loaded professional image as the basis for the "front" of your card. Postman also integrates with Google's Location API and can use your current location to get a Google Map that can then be uses as your image.

Themes and Text Effects

Postman 2.0 now includes a bunch of pre-configured themes that you can apply to your image.

The themes are pretty nice, adding a bit of kitsch and polish to the digital postcard experience. My favorite was the retro TV set that frames your location. Clicking on the theme applies it to your photograph instantly.

You also have access to various text styles using a variety of fonts, including MarketFelt, Helvetica and Times New Roman. You can adjust the size of the text, as well as the color. You can then move the text around the front of your postcard to position at will. If you don't want any text, just clear the text form.

When it comes to the back of your postcard, you can adjust the font and sizing there as well. You can also change the weather indicator, depending on conditions or your mood.

You can disable the front or the back of the virtual postcard, which is nice if you just want to send a little stylized note, or you just want to share a quick vacation picture.

Gallery: Postman 2.0 First Look

In the ecosystem of the App Store, the postcard-sending app occupies a healthy niche; about two pagefuls -- 60 apps -- show up in the store, for a category weighting of 0.125 flatulans. The flatulan, of course, is the unit of measurement of App Store penetration, equaling the 480 individual apps that include the word 'fart' somewhere in their description.

Among those postcard apps, there are several standouts for virtual cards (ADA winner Postage, for example) and even a few that let you send physical postcards for a small fee (TapTapCards, goPostal and Postino).

With Postman (iTunes link/website), released today by Freeverse and Taptivate for $0.99 for iPhone OS 3.0 devices, the postcard-sending app category gets a social media boost. Postman lets you deliver your two-sided ecards (yes, the app gives you the option of simulating the back of a traditional postcard, complete with stamp graphic) via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, email, or simple upload to the postmanapp.com website for public review. You can already track several tweeted postcards (some which probably should never have been sent.) You can also simply save your postcards to the photo roll on the device.

Creating postcards with Postman is fast and easy; all the controls are persistent in a small icon bar at the top of the screen and large front/back and 'share' buttons at the bottom.

Postman has style and several handy features. In addition to using your own camera images/photo library or the included stock images for postcard sources, you can locate yourself on a Google map and use that graphic instead (this leverages the Map API in iPhone 3.0). Once you pick a graphic, you've got a choice of one-click filters to apply that spice up the look of your card. You can easily switch fonts and colors for your text input on the card front or back, and then send with a couple of taps.

There are a few rough edges with the first release. I found the lack of a portrait mode frustrating, as I'm actually a faster typist on the vertical keyboard; not that you'll be keying in a chapter of War and Peace, but there's quite a bit of room for copy on the postcard back and I'd like to be able to rotate on that screen. The selection widgets seem cramped a bit, particularly the one for the stock templates. It would be nice to save postcards in progress and switch back to them, but for now there's only one card and no way to revert to earlier versions.

If you want to have super-slick, email-only postcards from your iPhone, and are willing to spend a couple of dollars more for some added flexibility, you may be better off with Postage or the still-awesome Comic Touch. For $0.99, however, the first pass of Postman delivers ease of use and some very handy delivery mechanisms on the back end.

A couple months ago we reviewed SodaSnap, a free application for the iPhone that allows you to send postcards. SodaSnap didn't allow you much flexibility, and was definitely not an iCard replacement. However, Memento for iPhone and iPod touch [iTunes link], which brings Mail.app-like stationery to everyone's favorite mobile platform, is a better alternative.

Each "stationery theme" allows you to add one picture and some text to the message. When you open the application, you are presented with a screen that shows all the messages saved as drafts, plus the ones that you've already sent. To start a new message, tap the "+" in the top-right corner of the screen.

To add a picture, just tap in the gray area with the camera icon. A popup menu will ask if you want to take a new picture or browse for one in your photo library. Once you've selected the image, it will be placed in the gray area.

This application is solid and has some nice themes to choose from. There is still room for improvement, however. I would like to see more themes (the 14 provided themes are nice, but they get old after a while). I would also like to see the ability to add more text, as you currently can only add a small snippet to your message. This is one of those applications that is just cool, and it has a variety of uses. If you're looking to surprise Grandma with pictures of her grandkids, then this is the application for you. You can download Memento for $2.99 (US) from the iTunes App Store.

Gallery: First Look: Memento