Filed under: Software
Filemaker's Bento goes 2.0
When Filemaker introduced Bento, the 'relational database for the rest of us,' at Macworld Expo this year, the response from the marketplace was pretty solid; as of August, the $49 multipurpose data organizer had been downloaded over 400,000 times. Still, the product was a clear 1.0 with a lot of room for new features and improvements; that's what Filemaker is looking to deliver with Bento 2, announced today and on sale immediately.
The big shift in B2 is the enhanced interaction with the data sources that contribute to your Bento collections. Need to include Mail.app messages in a layout along with contact info? Drag-and-drop them in, easy as can be. Want an RSS feed or your iCal data too? No problem. You can also sort and search your data in an iTunes-esque "Smart Collections" mode that should be familiar to novice users.
One of the top requests from Bento 1 users was for better spreadsheet integration, and Filemaker has added copy/paste support and improved import/export for Excel and Numbers; spreadsheets can be sorted and tweaked with ease, especially in the new split table/layout view. Surprisingly (to me anyway), AppleWorks import capability was also near the top of the feature request list; it's been added as well.
Bento's look has been revved up with 10 new themes; new in v2 is the ability to directly edit the layout of a database without switching into a layout-specific mode (just drag the field titles around). Address views now support AIM/iChat directly, and Google Maps integration is built-in. If you have rich media content that needs to travel with your database, you can embed it by option-dragging it onto the layout (a conventional drag creates a relative link to the media on your hard drive). Printing has been enhanced with new report modes, and the option to save a 'clone' template (no data records, just the schema and layouts) has been added.
Filemaker's customer research has been demonstrating a wide and diverse audience for Bento, from pilots and fashion boutiques to eBay mavens and goat herders. It's a pretty good bet that if your needs include a light, single-user and simple database app, Bento will be a match for you.
Bento 2 is $49 for one license and $99 for a family pack; through 10/27, it's available exclusively at the Apple Store or via store.filemaker.com. Bento 2 is a Universal Binary and requires Mac OS X 10.5.4 or higher.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jash Sayani said 9:24AM on 10-14-2008
Wow! Thats solid statistics.... I'll grab a trial....
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Chris Mehigan said 9:31AM on 10-14-2008
I'd like to try it out, I was quite impressed with Bento and found quite a few uses for it.
I am a bit disappointed that there is no option to "upgrade" your existing license particularly as Bento 2 is out inside of a year of their release of Bento.
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Andrew Wickliffe said 9:39AM on 10-14-2008
Definitely should have an upgrade offered, especially given they never added the mobileMe sync... which was requested from day one (when I purchased v1)
David said 3:07PM on 10-15-2008
I am hoping that there will be an upgrade path. I bought Bento this summer and am feeling like I should have waited
Willie said 9:33AM on 10-14-2008
Will I be able to upgrade my current version of Bento for free?
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Willie said 9:34AM on 10-14-2008
I do see that the person above me now wrote that you cannot, which is quite disappointing as I have only had Bento for a couple months. I feel gypped.
DrWho said 9:45AM on 10-14-2008
Vote with your wallet - I am. There should be an upgrade available, I'm not dropping another $50 for sure
therepguy said 5:16AM on 10-16-2008
NO
Norman said 9:54AM on 10-14-2008
Guys, come on. Normally a price for a product like Bento would be over 100 dollars. The price is so incredibly low, 50 dollars would be an upgrade price with products like Bento anyway. Were you guys never impressed how cheap it is?
It's number 2 of the selling arguments and it always works here, after the great productivity.
I'm seldomly so positive when it comes to software, but Bento is top knotch, like PZIZZ, and only a few others.
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SeanP said 9:55AM on 10-14-2008
I agree with the others that there should be an upgrade path for all who have supported an incomplete product in its first part year. The forums have been busy with suggested improvements to make it more useful particularly, in my opinion, in relation to printing reports.
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Bill MacKenty said 9:56AM on 10-14-2008
Is Bento multiuser? I don't really see the point of a database that can't be shared...
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Johnny said 10:45AM on 10-14-2008
It seems like the main point of Bento is to organize data that is already organized in other applications. I don't really get it. I'm a FileMaker developer, however, so I guess it's like going from a 2009 luxury sedan to a 1986 Ford Fiesta.
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Mike A. said 11:24AM on 10-15-2008
Don't waste your time. Bento is a bust. I paid for V.1 and found it to be so crippled that it was unusable. It is not multi-user so all you can really do is make little lists. Excel is actually easier to use for managing lists. I will not upgrade to v.2 and V.1 will continue to gather dust in my Apps folder.
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greenbook said 10:51AM on 10-14-2008
"More features. More Fun!" — from bento website.
"The Funnest iPod ever" — from you know where.
I'm glad Apple still like fun things (Filemaker Inc of course being a subsiduary of Apple Inc).
I'm hoping the word fun gets a mention during the keynote coming up in a couple of hours. Fun is underrated.
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Marc said 10:54AM on 10-14-2008
I very much agree with those who are disappointed about no upgrade path being offered. As a version 1 user from day one and, as others have said, it's been out for such a short time, I think FileMaker could have handled this better.
The new features would be great and so useful but I'm not sure I'll spend the same amount again, so soon.
Please FIleMaker, consider your user base. Loyalty is a two-way street.
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Evan said 11:32AM on 10-14-2008
I would have at least expected a $25 upgrade for those of us who purchased the first version... which in all reality was a $50 beta version. I helped people in their forums, gave them loads of feedback on the first version; this is a very poor move on their part.
They have an announcement in their forums for Version 2 but don't allow replies in it. Guess they are bracing for the shit storm.
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Andrew said 11:36AM on 10-14-2008
I bought Bento two weeks ago. They did not even acknowledge that in their Bento 2.0 email to me. I am with the others on the need for an upgrade path.
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Brad said 11:48AM on 10-14-2008
I just bought it a couple of months ago. I can't believe they aren't offering ANYTHING on the upgrade front. No discount. No free upgrade if you bought it after X date. All at a time when they are trying to establish a new product and a new customer base of HOME USERS. So it's not like these people are expensing this at the office. I can tell you that I won't pay full price again. At least with iLife and other lower-cost Apple software, you know they upgrade every year and you know when.
Sorry, but that is incredibly short-sighted and just bad business.
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Andrew said 11:51AM on 10-14-2008
I spoke too soon! Just received the following from Filemaker:
Hello :
FileMaker is pleased to announce the release of Bento 2. As a recent
purchaser of Bento 1 personal database software, you are eligible to receive Bento 2 via download, for free!
Here are the details of your Bento 1 purchase:
Bento 1 purchase detail:
- 1
To receive your free version of Bento 2 follow these simple steps:
1. Download Bento 2 by clicking here:
http://fmdl.filemaker.com/TBUB/bento/bento_2_trial.dmg
2. Install Bento 2 using the new License Key(s) shown below:
-REDACTED-
Please note that you may only use the Bento 2 software to replace a valid
licensed version of the Bento 1 software. The Bento 2 Special Offer does
not constitute the granting of a second license to the software. You may
not continue to use the Bento 1 software as a separate license, nor may youtransfer the Bento 1 software to someone else.
If you would like to purchase a Bento 2 CD, visit
https://store.filemaker.com
Thank you,
Keith Robinson
VP Sales, Asia Pacific & Americas
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Joshua said 12:18PM on 10-14-2008
I wonder if they fixed the problem where you spend a few hours putting all of your contacts names, phone numbers, etc. in, then try and sync it to your blackberry, to find Bento places all of the information for a contact in a wierd location, thus making you spend hours more doing it all in Address Book. That was a fun day.
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