Let’s suppose you’re on vacation – or maybe a business-related trip – and you want to send a note to a friend or family member. What would you do? The easy thing to do would be to send an e-mail, SMS, or perhaps update your status on Facebook or Twitter, right? But what if you wanted to do something special that would make a lasting impression? I’m talking old-school, with a modern twist. Remember letters, and postage stamps?

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about WorldMate 2009, now’s the perfect time to get acquainted with a great little app in Ovi Store called Touchnote. I am genuinely blown away by how easy and fun it is to use.

Despite the app’s cool name, it is not yet available using Nokia’s touch-enabled devices (we’ll update the blog as soon as we learn about a version that is compatible with Nokia S60 5th Edition devices). Be that as it may, using Touchnote on a Nokia S60 3rd edition device – and I installed it on my Nokia E75 – you can take a picture using your phone’s built-in camera, or you can use a photo stored in the phone’s gallery, and produce one-of-a-kind, printed photocards that can be mailed anywhere in the world (that’s what the company promises!). This video provides a great overview about the service:

When you install the application to your mobile device, you get one free sample Touchnote mailing to help you try the service. Additional “packs” of Touchnote cards can be purchased directly from Ovi Store – 1 for $2.99, 2 for $4.99, and 5 for $9.99. Once the App is installed on your mobile device, the software shows you how many credits you have available to use.

The software includes some handy, built-in Tips, contained in the Options menu, including a reminder that your image must be at least two megapixels or higher to print properly. Anyone carrying a typical Nokia smartphone today will not have a problem here. The printed Touchnote card is square, so be aware of the size and position of the image that you upload when using the software. As you will see when you try the app for yourself, you can preview the image you are going to have printed; and some basic cropping of the area to print can be done while using the app on your mobile device. At the end of the ordering process, you see an on-screen confirmation on your mobile, and you will also receive an e-mail message confirming your order.

I sent two cards home – just to see what would happen – one to my wife, and one for my daughter. I expected something along the lines of a flimsy postcard like you might find in a souvenir shop near the beach. I am happy to report that we were more than pleasantly surprised by the results! Another happy detail, according to the Touchnote website: “all of the cards are made from 50% recycled paper which is chlorine-free and comes from a mill accredited with ISO 14001 environmental management standard.”

The cards are printed and mailed from the U.K., and the images that I ordered as cards arrived in the U.S., via air mail, in less than one week. (Interestingly – and this must have been my fault – the zip code on the printed cards is wrong for both cards we received, missing one 0 in each. Happily, the U.S. postal service didn’t mind, and was still able to process the mailings.) The fold-out card is printed in full color, and includes a short typed message that you compose when you are placing the order for the card. The card is mailed in a clear, cellophane envelope, protecting the printed image on the card – giving the recipient a nice sneak peek at the contents! – and postage is included in the price of each printed card.

The photo is printed in the center square, with two flaps on opposite sides of the card that can be used to support the card and stand it up neatly on a desk or shelf. On the backside of the card, the flaps display a thumbnail of the image on the left, and on the right is a small map showing where the image was taken based on the GPS data transmitted from the phone. This might be my only complaint about the App – and it is a small one: The map is from Google. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but it would be great if this data could be sourced from Ovi Maps … this is a minor detail and certainly should not be a dealbreaker when it comes to using Touchnote.

The quality of the printed card is really outstanding – as good as any that you might buy in a store. But in this case, since the card is personalized by you, it is a truly unique product that won’t be found anywhere else. It’s a very simple and easy way to take a moment captured with the camera in your Nokia mobile phone, and create a truly memorable keepsake.

You might just want to create Touchnotes and mail them to yourself at work! Then you’d have a way to remember that vacation you just took … Now get back to work.