RSSBento personal database for Mac gains Wi-Fi sharing, security
By Jacqueline Emigh | Published September 29, 2009, 10:25 PM
Launched on Tuesday, Bento 3 is the third major release of the personal database from Apple's FileMaker division since the original rollout of the product in January 2008.
With the new Bento 3, users can employ Apple Bonjour, a technology intro'd earlier for iTunes and iPhotos, to let other users on a Wi-Fi or wired LAN locate and view information in their personal databases.
Bento 3 users can protect their information by allowing access only to those who know a "sharing password," said Ryan Rosenberg, FileMaker's VP of marketing services, in a briefing for Betanews. The new version also adds 128-bit AES encryption, which can be used for safeguarding either the entire database or fields.
New in version 3, too, are iPhoto integration, a "Grid" view, and ten more templates, including Job Search, Home Search, TV & Movie Catalog, Vacation Planner, and Meeting Notes, for instance.
Added to the 25 templates already included in Bento, the ten new ones bring the total to 35. But users can also download any of 286 templates from the online Bento Template Exchange that went live on June 16, Betanews was told.
In a demo, Rosenberg showed how a husband and wife might use the new Home Search template in Bento 3 to give individual ratings to new houses they've visited, and then to share their respective ratings of the various buildings over a network.
But although people continue to use Bento for these and other personal purposes, including keeping track of hobby collections, recent research by Apple's FileMaker indicates that many users have turned to Bento for running small businesses out of their homes. One home-based appellate lawyer in San Francisco, California, uses Bento to organize information about clients and cases, said Rosenberg.
Mac users in larger organizations tend to gravitate to the FileMaker database, according to Rosenberg. Apple first devised Bento to compete with Microsoft Access, he noted.
Through the new iPhoto integration in Bento 3, you can see photos in Bento through any of four views: Table, Form, Split, or the new Grid view. You can link photos to contacts, projects, events, and other Bento data, and you can store more information about a photo than what iPhoto is able to accommodate, the VP elaborated. The new Grid view can show text along with thumbnails of pictures, forms files, and movies.
Available immediately, Bento 3 is priced at $49. Apple's FileMaker is also offering $20 rebates to people who own Bento 1 or 2.
Last May, FileMaker unveiled a smaller edition of Bento specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Rosenberg pointed out. A free update to the $4.99 mobile edition -- supporting synchronization with the Bento 3 desktop edition for Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard -- was also announced this week.
Well, just to offer another opinion. I rather like Bento. It's quick, easy, and does what I want it to do. Yep, it's not as full featured as FMP but I didn't really need it for that. One small correction to the comment about the "rebate bunk." It wasn't too bunky. It's an instant rebate. If you choose the rebate option you get to buy the new version at a discount. You just need to have your serial # at the time of purchase.
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|No Windows support? Does this use Mac OS X technologies?
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|I agree totally wiht Keybored. I bought the two previous versions of Bento and was totally underwhelmed by what it could do and was forced to use FileMakerPro, which is a powerful program but not intuitive like a typical Apple Software product. What we need is an INTUITIVE database program LIKE Bento but not as USELESS as Bento is now. The second version had VERY LITTLE new to offer. I thought, wow, finally Bento was ready for prime time, but NO. So now I do not trust them anymore ESPECIALLY because they are doing this REBATE BUNK! We all know that REBATES are SCAMS to lure unsuspecting buyers, who only get hookwinked in the end!! Why is APPLE, the glorious GOD OF COMPUTING associating itself with this PATHETIC PROGRAM??? I am trying Delicious as KEYBORED suggested. Hope to find a better product than Bento.
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|Users should know that Bento assesses a steep upgrade fee especially for what you get: this is really Bento 1.3, not a 3.0. Original purchasers are now, less than 2 years into the life of this program, asked to pay $139; academic prices of full Filemaker are $179. What do you think of that math, especially considering what a limited database Bento is once you start trying to do real life applications of it. There are equally easy and cheaper alternatives. As an original purchaser of the program, I feel only outrage that Bento's marketing is out of line with the norms and the high standards typical of independent developers. I'd say, support them. O, and Bento for iphone? Ha: do be serious. If all you want to do is catalog your library of items, try Delicious.
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