Espy 1.0

Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s Summer of Mac Gems series. Each business day until the middle of August 2008, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program. Visit the Mac Gems homepage for a list of past Mac Gems.

I’m one of those people who can’t remember names, but I do remember faces. That why I like GoGoalSoft’s Espy, an address book that uses an iPhoto-inspired interface for sifting through your contacts.

Espy uses the same database used by Apple’s Address Book, displaying the pictures for each contact as gloriously large thumbnails. Espy’s features are basic, like Address Book; you can drag-and-drop photos to add them to a contact, create groups, export contacts as vCards, add fields, and more.

Of course, you need to start taking pictures of new contacts, which may not always be practical. But it could be a way to help establish a new professional or personal relationship.