What is Poken?

Poken are small USB devices that allow you to quickly and easily connect where it matters, in the real world! Just by touching them together you can exchange contact details like phone, email , Skype, MSN as well as links to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Is Poken a new online social network, competing with Facebook?
No. Poken is a tool for social networking that can be used across many social networking platforms. We do not want users to have to change social networking sites, or to have to re-connect with all their friends. There are many great applications available on existing social networking sites, and we believe users should continue using the ones they are used to. Poken will simply tie into any one of your social networking accounts and make it easier for you to connect with new people, by letting you connect immediately when you are physically in their presence. We want to save you the hassle of having to search for new friends later, when you’re sitting in front of your computer. Your time is better spent socialising in the real world, or using great tools online to improve your social life.

What are the main advantages of using a Poken to connect to my friends and new contacts?
Our core offer is built around some very simple new concepts that bring a whole new dimension to your social networking:

You connect to people in the real world, when and where you meet them: What’s more natural than linking up with a new friend on the spot? Don’t scribble your email address or phone number on a paper napkin or search for them later on Facebook. Just ‘high-four’ to connect instantly.

Poken is your social business card. Scrap the paper business card! Your Poken card is far more comprehensive. Rather than handing out a piece of paper that shares just your basic contact information such as company, address, phone, and email, with Poken you can include your social network profiles as well. When you associate a social network to your Poken identity that social network’s favicon appears on your Poken card. If you are connected to your friend on that social network, then they can click the favicon link to instantly view your social network profile. If you opt not to be connected on that social network, then they will simply see the public-search version of your profile.

We record the time at which you connect to people. And since you’re connecting in the real world, it’s a valuable piece of information that lets you view your networking chronoligically. So, when you’re wondering what’s-the-name-of-that-person-you-met-two-weeks-ago-when-you-were-with-Bob-at-his-cousin’s-braai, instead of tediously going through your whole alphabetical list of contacts, you can simply “scroll back” to see who that person was.

Why is DoYouPoken.com asking me for my password to another site. Is it storing that information?
No! Rest assured that DoYouPoken.com HAVE NEVER AND WILL NEVER STORE YOUR PASSWORD TO AN EXTERNAL SITE. As a convenience to our users, our Web site allows you to connect to external social networks, adding your profile on those networks to your Poken card. To ensure that you are entitled to add those profiles (and that no one else can add your profile), we require that you authenticate yourself with each network that you add. Whenever possible this authentication is accomplished by means of secure methods that allow you to enter your username and password directly on the external network’s site. In some cases, however, such methods are not available or we are still in the process of upgrading our Web site to use them. In these cases you enter your username and password for the external network on our Web site, which then sends the information to the external network to validate you. Your password is used one time only to validate you and then discarded.

If I am on Facebook and Linked-In and I Poken someone who is on Hyves and MSN, how will we interact?
Well, that’s up to you to decide. It’s just like languages: if you meet someone who speaks some other languages, you try to find a common one for your conversation. In your Poken account you will see your new friend’s Poken card showing the social networks to which he belongs. If you’d like to interact with him using the tools that Facebook provides, we make it easy for him to open a Facebook account. If you prefer to use the tools MSN provides, we make it easy for you to be connected to him on a new MSN account.

What we bring are a few tools that help in this first interaction with new friends:

You can see all the networks your friends are on (if they chose to list them), and you can instantly connect to them on those networks.

If many of your friends are on a network that you are not a part of, then you’ll see it and you can open an acount with that network to more easily connect with those firends. Chances are you’ve been missing out on something!

How does my Poken work?

Why do I have to carry around an extra gadget? Isn’t there some way to do this in my phone?
Sort of but not really. Since the beginning of mobile phones and PDAs there have been myriad proposed solutions to easy sharing of contact information or “replacing the business card.” To show our age, several members of Poken’s staff fondly remember beaming vCards in infrared between our Palm Pilots back in the day. However, nothing has ever emerged as a standard for a couple of reasons. The first inhibitor has been hardware/OS/application fragmentation–basically different phones often can’t talk well with others. Recently there have been more and more hardware/OS/application-independent phone solutions for contact exchange via BlueTooth or visual codes. However, these also have not really caught on. We believe that it is because the user interface is too unwieldy, requiring the user to type in codes, launch applications, etc.

Our solution is meant to address these issues by providing an extremely simply mechanism for contact exchange: the high-four. It is natural and it mimics the way we interact with other humans every day. The security is built into the hardware so there are no codes to enter and no risk of someone stealing your information. It requires a small, extra hardware device to carry around so we’ve designed that device to be cool and fun–something we hope you would like to carry around with you anyway. Perhaps we’re tilting at windmills by trying to create a social replacement for the business card, but we really think we’re on to something!

What happens I plug my Poken into my computer’s USB port?
Your Poken appears as a standard USB drive on your computer. A web browser window opens and you can log into your Poken account to manage your Poken contacts across social networks. If a web browser does not automatically appear, simply double-click the “Start_Poken.html” file that appears on the Poken drive. If you have not yet registered your Poken, you will be prompted to create an account, which is a simple process in which you decide what information you would like to share with the people you Poken, including which of your social network profiles you want to link to your Poken card.

Will my Poken work with any computer?
Yes. The USB connector of your Poken lets you easily upload your new contacts to your Poken account. It is recognized by all computers as a standard USB memory stick with a few files on it. You do not need to install any software on your computer. You only need to plug your Poken into a computer that is connected to the Web. Depending on the OS (Operating System) that you use (Mac OS, Windows, Linux) the “Start_Poken.html” may or may not launch automatically. If not, simply double-click the “Start_Poken.html” file that appears on the Poken drive.

Do I need to register with Poken before I can start using my Poken?
No! You can start using your Poken as soon as you’ve activated it: just pull the small white tab from the USB connector. You can then start Pokening right away. Your Poken will store all the new contacts, which will be uploaded to your account once you’ve registered. Until you’ve registered your friends will only be able to see an “unregistered” card in their New Friends page. They cannot import you unless you create an account so be sure to register as soon as you can to experience the full benefits of Poken.

What information is stored on a Poken? What if I lose the Poken, will someone else have access to my personal details?
There is no personal information stored on your Poken. The only thing contained in your Poken is a random number we call a “Poken ID” and some encrypted codes that relate to other Pokens you’ve Pokened.

By default you will be prompted to provide your password each time you insert your Poken into your comptuer. If someone else plugs your Poken into their USB port, without your password they cannot do anything with it. Even the contacts you’ve accumulated in your Poken are safe: they are encrypted using a very advanced encryption method and are only accessible in your account. Furthermore, since you’ve already uploaded your previous contacts, your data is safe and sound. You can simply get a new Poken and, when you register it, link it to your previous account. You’ll be all set to keep socializing as if nothing happened. Additionally, in “Device Settings” in your Poken account, you can mark your Poken as lost and write a message to whomever finds it and plugs it into their computer.

For your convenience, we offer an auto-login option for Pokens. If you select auto-login for your Poken, then you will not need to sign in every time you insert your Poken into your computer to go to your Poken account or upload new contacts. A note of caution, however: it also means that anyone who finds your Poken will have access to your account and the information your friends have chosen to share with you.

If you lose your Poken, once you mark it lost no one else will have access to your account, whether or not it was set to auto-login.

What if I’m not sure I really want to Poken with someone, but I don’t want deal with the awkwardness of refusing to Poken?
No worries. That’s why Pokens have two modes: “Normal” and “Discrete”. Your Poken is in Normal mode by default. Every time you Poken by simply touching two Poken hands together in a “high-four” greeting you share your Poken card.

To switch your Poken to Discreet mode (and avoid awkwardly telling people you don’t want to Poken with them), just double-press your Poken’s palm.

“Ghost” is selected by default for your Poken’s Discreet mode. Any Pokening you do within the next 30 seconds will only share a Ghost card. When the contact you’ve ghosted uploads their Poken contacts to their New Friends list they will only see a Ghost Card and they will not know to whom it belongs.

You, however, will see their Public card, as you normally would, and can at that point decide whether or not to accept them to your list of contacts. If you do accept them, then your Public card will replace the Ghost card in their New Friends list.

Sharing Multiple Identities

Modes also allow you to share different cards with one Poken. You can create multiple Poken Identities and choose which cards you would like to share in each mode instead of selecting the “ghost” option. See “Manage Poken Modes” under “Devices.”

How many contacts can be stored on a Poken?
Your Poken can store up to 64 contacts. Each time you successfully Poken the little palm will glow green. It will blink red if you did not Poken successfully, in which case, just wait a few seconds for the glowing to disappear and try again.

Can I download my Poken contacts to vCard ?
Yes! On your homepage, located in the top right corner of the friends section, click “Manage My Friends.” The search and vCard features will immediately appear below the “Manage My Friends” heading. Located just below the search button is a link labelled “vCard.” Click “vCard” to download your contacts.

What if the people I Pokened don’t appear in my “New Friends” list ?
It’s a common misunderstanding that just plugging your Poken into your computer uploads contacts. You need to double-click “Start_Poken.html,” which appears in the Poken drive when you’ve plugged in your Poken, to sync your newly Pokened friends onto your account.

How do I get a Poken?

Where can I buy a Poken?
You can buy Poken here, and other stores coming soon.

If you want to get together with some friends and buy a load then contact us.

How much will they cost?
Individual Poken Sparks cost ZAR 199 each, and Poken Pulses cost ZAR 299 each, including VAT & Shipping (in South Africa only).

Special offers are usually available at events we attend, and sometimes on Twitter and Facebook

For larger deals we are happy to discuss volume discounts, just contact us.

What are my shipping options?
All orders within South Africa come with free shipping that usually take 5 days to reach destination (unless not in stock, in which case we will advise you). If you need your Poken more urgently then contact us.