Well, that was short and not-so-sweet. The honeymoon is over between me and my Geode. In short, my GeoCard doesn't work. Having loaded the card information into my Geode app, I went out to test its effectiveness in retail stores. But at my first stop, Sam's Club, the GeoCard refused to imprint with my credit card info – it simply gave me an error notice: “Dynamic card not found.” Not found? It's in the freaking Geode device!

I tried again at a local bookshop – same result. I have since learned that this is a common problem with the Geodes sent out to Kickstarter pledgers. Apparently the chip on the GeoCard has adhesive problems that prevent contact between the card and the device. Additionally, iCache didn't anticipate the effect of heat on the chip resulting from being in delivery trucks in 100+ -degree temperatures.

So frustrating! – especially combined with two other problems encountered with this device. The first I mentioned in my previous post: the fingerprint-swiping mechanism leaves something to be desired. Sometimes it takes 5-7 swipes before the app recognizes my print; on other occassions it clicks with the first swipe. The second problem is with the charger – unless you fidget with it a bit and get it to fit just right, your iPhone could sit for hours barely getting any juice to recharge.

Can I recommend the Geode? No, not at this time. The concept of an electronic wallet is a brilliant one, but until iCache remedies the problems (and sends me the replacement GeoCard that I requested), I cannot, in all conscience, tell you to go out and order this device. I'll keep my Geode, and, hopefully, with a new GeoCard, I'll be able to use it extensively and even recommend its purchase. But for now – no, just…no.