The use of an optional image scanner and optical communication avoids the complications of managing paper business cards. Optical scanner devices produce machine-readable data signals representative of an object or document being scanned by projecting an image of the document onto a photosensitive detector. Optical character readers, or scanners, are commonly used for loading text from printed documents into computers. Optical character readers operate by causing them to scan a region on a document containing printed characters. The image of the characters is focused by means of a lens onto an array of photoelectric transducers. A microprocessor inside the optical character reader recognizes the characters by comparing the light and dark portions of the scanned area with a reference matrix that is stored in a memory chip in the optical character reader. The electrical signals produced by the photosensitive detector may then be digitized and processed as necessary to produce an image of the scanned object on a suitable display device, such as, for example, the display of a personal computer. The most common type of photosensitive detector device used in optical scanners is the charge coupled device or CCD. A CCD may comprise a large number of light sensitive cells or "pixels," each of which collects or accumulates an electrical charge in response to exposure to light. All the reflective documents (such as papers and business cards) and transparent documents can be scanned by applying various scanners, and their scanned images can be stored for further processing. Typically, the scanners can be classified into flatbed scanners that put all scanned documents on the top of their transparent windows just like copy machines do, and feed-in scanners feed the scanned documents into the scanners for generating the scanned images. The scanned, digital information then can be used for a variety of applications. For example, scanned, digitized textural information may be stored in a database, wherein the user can search for desired documents by initiating a "word search," and scanned, digitized graphical information may be edited, and processed for pictorial print-out. Scanned images can be stored in any number of different formats, such as bitmap, JPEG, GIF, and the like. The storage format may often be determined by the ultimate destination for the information.

A business card scanner or reader is a compact scanner for reading and organizing business cards. A business card is scanned into a graphic file by the business card reader, and the graphic file of the business card is sent to a computer through a standard computer interface such as USB interface. The graphic file is then accessed by a post-processing software such as an optical character reorganization (OCR) software to convert it into text information. Presently, PDAs are being used widely both for displaying information, and for capturing information in real-time. Incorporating a business card scanner into a PDA, or attaching a document scanner to a PDA, would significantly enhance their usefulness for data entry. Data can be read by an image scanner that is connected to the PC, transferred to the organizer through the optical communication, and stored in the organizer. Business cards can be scanned directly into the PDA. Similarly, rather than writing onto the PDA with a stylus, data being entered into the PDA could be simply printed or written onto a sheet of paper that is then scanned. The scanned image thus obtained may then be converted to digital data within the PDA using optical character recognition (OCR) or intelligent character recognition (ICR) techniques. A business card scanner may comprise a controller, a card-feeding sensor, a motor controller, a CIS module and a USB port. The card-feeding sensor will trigger the motor controller to feed in a business card once the card-feeding sensor detects the presence of the business card. At the same time, the CIS module is activated by the card-feeding sensor to scan the business card into a graphic file. The graphic file is firstly stored in the controller and then sent to a computer through the USB port. The data in the PDA can be simultaneously updated with data in a computer by some data synchronization software.