(Credit:
FileMaker, Inc.)
You don't have to own a Mac to use FileMaker's new Bento for iPhone and iPod Touch--released Tuesday in the iTunes App Store--but if you do, wireless sync adds extra incentive to take your personal databases to go.
Bento ($4.99) offers non-Mac users a portable personal database for storing everything from birthdays and home expenses to recipes and an exercise log, with 25 templates to start. Integration with the address book, dialer, Safari browser, e-mail in-box, and Google Maps make Bento a useful iPhone app offering that could become a master storehouse for your separate lists; and one that quickly facilitates calls, mapping, and Web searches from within the app.
We got a demo of the handsome, dark Bento app a few weeks ago. After playing with it for a while, it appears to balance a mine of data fields with the iPhone's customarily accessible interface. Bento's home screen displays all your data libraries, which you can swipe through to view. Other screens let you add a new library, search for entries, or sync to Bento on the Mac. Each new library is prepopulated with one dummy entry to get you started. While there is a dedicated search screen, a similar search field within each library facilitates more advanced investigations of your data.
While straightforward at the top level, Bento for iPhone has a few more tricks tucked away--like the option to rate your contacts (your child's babysitters, for instance), and add additional data fields. Bento will also let you create subcollections within any record with the push of a button that looks like three overlapping squares. Those familiar with Bento 2 for Mac will note that while calculations and related records from the desktop version can be transferred to and used on the iPhone version, you won't be able to create either on the device.
We won't know for sure until we build up some databases of our own, but after looking at Bento for iPhone in its prelaunch state, it seems promising for the uberorganized.
Probably the most popular pro-level database maker for the Mac, FileMaker Pro has just released a major update to coincide with Macworld 2009. Offering a sleek new interface that's as nice to look at as it is intuitive, FileMaker Pro's new Status Toolbar puts commonly used features right where you need them. Even if you're not happy with the default layout of the new toolbar, you can easily customize the available icons to improve the work flow for specific projects.
The status bar puts your most used tools right at the top of the screen for easy access.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)The new browse feature gives you a centralized location for navigating to different parts of your database quickly. You'll now have buttons to quickly switch between search, preview, and edit layout modes and switching from Form, List, and Table is as easy as a click of your mouse. When you're finished, you can save further time with easy-access buttons to save as PDF or Excel formats. Other new features include Saved Finds, making it easy to get to your favorite find requests quickly; new themes and templates to give your databases the look you want; and a new resource center with hands-on instructional videos for when you hit roadblocks.
Quickly switch between modes with convenient buttons located in the Status Toolbar.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)Available now for $299, FileMaker Pro 10 is a must-have for those who spend their time working with databases. With features to streamline database navigation, offer easy access to search, preview, and edit modes, and shortcuts to get you where you need to go quickly, we think this update is worth the money for saving you time so you can move on to the next big project.
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